Joshua Nordstrom Is Chairman of Robotics Challenge

Written By:  Bill Kerbin

POCOMOKE CITY -- A number of students from the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Virginia have been participating in Eastern Shore Robotics, a program in which they have been actually building robots at a section of the MIST building in Pocomoke City.

Having participated in the recent regional competition the students now have their sights set on the national championship. And to participate in this event they have to raise money.

One planned fundraiser is the Robotics Technology Exposition and Challenge set for Saturday, May 21, at Midway GM/Toyota. The Worcester/Accomack, Northampton and Salisbury teams will be demonstrating their robots at this event. Members of the teams will also be available to discuss the process that they use in building their robots. The event will feature the robots built and used in this year's first competition by the local teams.

In addition to Midway and the teams, the event will be co-sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Institute for Space and Technology. Recently team members spoke to the Pocomoke mayor and Council and were given a contribution toward the national championship.

Joshua Nordstrom, who is chairing the event, said that he and the other sponsors want to show the students that there are career opportunities in the science, mathematics, engineering and technology fields; that there are scholarships and internships available.

He is hoping for additional corporate sponsors who will want to set up booths and displays. This year he is hoping to raise $3,000 to help fund the trip to the national championship and to expand the event in the future.

Anyone interested in the event can contact Fotios Skouzes at 410-957-6570 or Joshua Nordstrom at 4190-957-2222.

Source; http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20110421/WCT01/104210312/Shore-students-set-to-show-off-robotics-work?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Worcester County Times|s

NASA And Boy Scouts of America Unveil New Merit Badge

WASHINGTON -- Boy Scouts now have the opportunity to work with NASA and other technology professionals to design, build, and demonstrate a robot to earn the new Robotics merit badge.


NASA and BSA developed the badge because of the wide-reaching impact of robotics and its role in science, technology, engineering, and math, or STEM careers. The badge is now part of the BSA's new curriculum emphasizing STEM activities and will help young men develop critical skills relevant and needed in today's competitive world. The new merit badge is one of 31 STEM-related merit badges. Scouts will have access to engineering software and work with professional mentors worldwide to earn the badge.


"This unique partnership is another clear example of NASA looking at new and creative ways to inspire our youth to consider STEM careers," said Lyndon Bridgwater, NASA aerospace engineer and lead badge contributor from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The badge involved approximately 14 months of development and input from 13 organizations and more than 150 BSA youth members and leaders and industry professionals from across the nation. To earn the Robotics merit badge, a scout is required to understand how robots move, sense the environment and understand how to perform an operation. Scouts will spend approximately 14 hours meeting the requirements of the badge, during which they will design a robot and demonstrate how it works. The BSA anticipates more than 10,000


Robotics merit badges will be earned the first year.


"While the guiding principles of Scouting -- service to others, leadership, personal achievement, and respect for the outdoors -- will never change, we continue to adapt programs to prepare young people for success in all areas of life," said BSA Chief Scout Executive Bob Mazzuca.

Source; nasa.gov http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2011/apr/HQ_11-110_Boy_Scout_Badge.html

Wallops Off Shore Exercise Is A Success

OCEAN CITY – Perhaps providing further evidence of a growing presence at Wallops Island, along the coast just south of Assateague, NASA last weekend conducted a significant rocket launch visible in much of the mid-Atlantic area, as part of a joint training exercise with the U.S. Navy.

Shortly after 1 a.m. last Saturday, residents and visitors to the resort area still awake were treated to a rare spectacle when the Terrier-Oriole sub-orbital rocket arched its way across the Delmarva sky and reached its peak altitude before falling harmlessly into the ocean.

According to Wallops officials, the launch was visible throughout a wide swath of Delmarva from Delaware to as far south as North Carolina.

“It was a great launch and should have been visible throughout much of the region, although I’m not sure how many people were up at that hour to witness it,” said Wallops spokesman Keith Koehler this week. “It wasn’t crystal clear and it might have been hazy in some areas, but many people in the area probably saw a pretty cool show.”
The rocket was launched as part of a Navy exercise off the mid-Atlantic coast. Three U.S. Second Fleet ships, including the U.S.S. Monterrey, the U.S.S. Ramage and the U.S.S. Gonzalez, converged off the Atlantic coast just south of Assateague to test their tracking systems for the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system. All three successfully tracked the sub-orbital Terrier Oriole rocket launched from Wallops early last Saturday morning.

All three ships were able to successfully track the target missile, with the Monterrey and the Ramage, both Aegis destroyers, providing simulated target solutions that would have resulted in a successful interception of the rocket had it been a real threat. No missiles were fired from the ships during the launch because it was simply a simulated training exercise.

“The whole exercise went very well,” said Koehler. “The Navy was able to accomplish everything it hoped to with the launch and its simulated responses to a real threat, and we were able to successfully launch another significant rocket at Wallops.”

Koehler said the training exercise was just one of many planned off the coast of the Atlantic involving rocket launches from Wallops.

“We are looking forward to working with the Navy on similar exercises in the future,” he said. “Because of our natural proximity to a vast majority of the Atlantic fleet in Norfolk, it makes perfect sense to continue our great working relationship with future launches.”
www.mdcoastdispatch.com
by: Shawn J. Soper, News Editor

25th Anniversary of Challenger Explosion Remembered With Memorial Service

CAPE CANAVERAL — In a somber ceremony at Kennedy Space Center's Visitor Complex today, NASA leaders, employees and relatives paid tribute to the two women and five men who lost their lives on space shuttle Challenger 25 years ago, recalling the disaster that shocked the country and forever changed America's space agency.

On a brisk morning under cloudy skies, about 200 people — many carrying a long-stemmed rose — gathered at the stark Space Mirror Memorial at the front of the tourist attraction for the service sponsored by the Astronauts Memorial Foundation. By the end of the 45-minute ceremony, the skies were as clear as they were a quarter-century ago when Challenger exploded.

Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for Space Operations, said he had vowed after the Challenger explosion that it would never happen again. But it did – on Feb. 1, 2003 – when shuttle Columbia broke up on re-entry because a piece of insulating foam falling off the fuel tank had punched a hole in the orbiter's wing during launch.

Like the cause of the Challenger disaster – caused by a failed O-ring in the shuttle's solid-rocket booster – problems with foam coming off the tank were apparent after the shuttle's first flight in 1981, he said. But NASA engineers didn't judge them serious enough to halt flights to fix them.

"This is the most difficult speech that I give," Gerstenmaier said. "This speech becomes much more than words as I reflect on the failings of the human safe-flight team…They're not academic or simple lessons, but are lessons that must be implemented and learned every day. The little things that seemed harmless can become catastrophic events."

However, he added, "We can't let the fear of failure stop us from the challenges and risky work of discovery."

Gerstenmaier was joined by June Scobee Rodgers, widow of Challenger's commander, Dick Scobee. But unlike the veteran NASA administrator, she chose to emphasize the positive – creation of the Challenger Centers that have provided 4 million students in the U.S .as well as in Canada, South Korea and Canada with space-education programs.

"What should have been a day of education turned to tragedy in a split second," said Scobee Rodgers, who has remarried.

"Lessons were left untaught," she said, adding that the families of the dead crewmembers – including Christa McAuliffe, the New Hampshire high-school teacher who was flying as part of the Teacher in Space program -- realized that "if we didn't somehow continue Challenger's mission of education, then our loved ones would have died in vain."

In a statement released before the event, Steven McAuliffe, Christa McAuliffe's widower, put it like this: "Ordinary people can make extraordinary contributions when they remain true to themselves and enthusiastically pursue their own dreams wherever they may lead."

In addition to McAuliffe and Scobee, the Challenger crew included pilot Michael Smith, astronauts Ronald McNair, Judith Resnik, Ellison Onizuka and payload specialist Gregory "Bruce" Jarvis, who worked for Hughes Aircraft Co.

The theme of the day was the legacy of the seven astronauts who lost their lives just 73 seconds into the flight. It was a message focusing on learning not loss.

The shuttle was destroyed 73 seconds after launch, when a failed O-ring in one of the shuttle's solid-rocket boosters allowed hot gases to escape and ignite the shuttle's main fuel tank. It was the 25th flight in the shuttle program.

A quarter-century later, images of the exploding space shuttle still signify all that can go wrong with space travel.

The accident — the first high-tech catastrophe to unfold on live TV — took place 9 miles above the Atlantic and remains NASA's most visible failure. Adding to the anguish was the young audience: Schoolchildren everywhere tuned in to watch McAuliffe become the first schoolteacher and ordinary citizen bound for space.

President Ronald Reagan was due to give his State of the Union address the night of the Challenger disaster. Instead he postponed the speech for a week, and appeared on national television to pay tribute to the crew.

He said they were "pioneers" before ending his address with two lines from the John Magee poem "High Flight": "We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of earth' to 'touch the face of God'

www.wtkr.com

Day of Remembrance For NASA

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - NASA is pausing Thursday to remember the 17 astronauts lost in the line of duty.

The so-called Day of Remembrance — always the last Thursday of January — takes on special meaning this year. Friday marks the 25th anniversary of the shuttle Challenger launch disaster.

Flags will fly at half-staff at NASA centers nationwide Thursday. In addition, NASA officials will lay wreathes at various memorials to honor the dead.

NASA's three space-related fatalities occurred within days of one another but years apart. Three astronauts were killed in the Apollo 1 launch pad fire on Jan. 27, 1967. Seven more died aboard Challenger on Jan. 28, 1986. And the seven-member crew of Columbia perished during re-entry on Feb. 1, 2003

www.wavy.com

Exercises From NASA Beginning Tonight

NORFOLK, Va. - The Navy is planning to conduct its first live sea-based Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) test on the East Coast this weekend.

The test is part of exercise Atlantic Trident 2011 scheduled through January 25.

According to the Navy, the exercise will provide realistic training for BMD ships and give them the opportunity to track a live target and simulate intercept of a short-range target missile in the midcourse phase of flight.

A target missile will be launched from the NASA Wallops Island Flight Facility on Virginia's Eastern Shore. The launch is scheduled during the overnight hours of Friday night into Saturday morning.

As part of the exercise, the Navy says a cruiser and destroyer will detect and track the target with its SPY-1 radar, develop fire control solutions, and simulate firing SM-3 missiles.

The Navy stresses that no missiles will be fired from the ships as Atlantic Trident 2011 is a tracking exercise only.

Aegis BMD is the sea-based mid-course component of the Missile Defense Agency's (MDA) Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) and is designed to intercept and destroy short to intermediate-range ballistic missile threats.

The MDA and the U.S. Navy cooperatively manage the Aegis BMD program.

www.wavy.com

New Rocket Integration Facility to be Unveiled At NASA

NASA will unveil its new rocket integration facility at the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. EST on Friday, Jan. 21.

The Horizontal Integration Facility will support medium class mission capabilities. The first customer to use the facility will be Orbital Sciences Corporation of Dulles, Va., with its Taurus II launch vehicle.

Orbital will be conducting missions for NASA under the agency's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services project and Commercial Resupply Services program. Integration of the Taurus II at the facility will begin in February with launch expected later this year.

Participants in the ceremony:
- Sen. Barbara Mikulski
- NASA Administrator Charles Bolden
- NASA Associate Administrator for Space Operations William Gerstenmaier
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Director Rob Strain
- NASA Wallops Flight Facility Director William Wrobel
- Orbital Sciences Corp. Chairman and CEO David Thompson

For more information about Wallops, visit:
www.nasa.gov/wallops

NASA Hosts Robotics Events Saturday

Students from the Eastern Shore will gather this weekend at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility for the start of a national robotics competition.

Students interested in robotics will meet Saturday morning at the facility to get details of the first challenge in the 2011 FIRST Robotics season, which kicks off this weekend.

NASA said a live event will be held in Manchester, N.H., and will be televised at numerous locations nationally, including at Wallops. The mission will be a game created by FIRST Robotics. Teams across the U.S. will then receive a kit of parts with which to build a machine used to accomplish the mission.

NASA says Saturday's Eastern Shore event will feature speakers from Eastern Shore robotics teams, NASA and the Navy.
www.shoredailynews.com

First Stage Of Taurus II Rocket Has Arrived At Wallops

WALLOPS -- The 90-foot-long first stage of Orbital Sciences' Taurus II rocket has arrived at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility after a journey that began Oct. 8 in Ukraine, continued across the Atlantic Ocean to Wilmington and finally traveled Delmarva's highways to Wallops.

A team of Ukrainian rocket engineers arrived at Wallops Flight Facility last month in advance of the rocket stage and will be working there on the Taurus II project.

Taurus II's first launch is scheduled for early 2011.

Orbital Sciences was one of two companies awarded a NASA contract for missions to take supplies to the International Space Station after the space shuttle program ends. NASA, in December 2008, awarded the company a $1.9 billion contract for eight missions.

The first Taurus II mission, under a NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services agreement, will be a risk reduction test flight, followed by a demonstration mission to show the vehicle's capability to perform the commercial re-supply missions, which are slated to begin in early 2012.

The first stage core structure is nearly 13 feet in diameter and weighs 29,000 pounds with no fuel in it.

It was transported on a 95-foot-long trailer specially designed by Diamond Heavy Haul Inc. of Shandon, Ohio -- a company that specializes in arranging transportation for unusual supersized cargo -- along Route 13 and Chincoteague Road to the NASA Wallops Flight Facility, where it will remain in the payload processing facility until a new horizontal integration facility under construction near the launch pad on Wallops Island is completed.

The stage likely will be moved to the island in January, NASA Wallops Flight Facility spokesman Keith Kohler said.

It was shipped by rail from the city of Dnepropetrovsk in Ukraine to the Black Sea port of Oktyabrsk, from where it was transported by ship to the United States. It arrived at the Port of Wilmington on Nov. 21, but transport to Wallops was delayed for nearly two weeks due to highway restrictions associated with the Thanksgiving holiday.

Two Ukrainian companies, Yuzhnoye and Yuzhmash, designed and manufactured the rocket component, which includes a liquid oxygen tank, a kerosene fuel tank, an intertank assembly and an aft bay where the main engine interfaces with the booster, according to the Orbital Sciences website.

Other aspects of the Taurus II program also are coming together around the world, including the delivery in September of the first Taurus II AJ26 engine to NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, where it is being tested before being sent to Wallops, and the production in Turino, Italy, of the Cygnus cargo modules at the Thales/Alenia Space facility.

The cargo modules will carry up to 4,400 pounds of supplies during missions to the International Space Station. The first payload fairing for the rocket was manufactured in Stockton, Calif., by Applied Aerospace Structures.

www.delmarvanow.com

New Date For NASA Rocket Launch

NASA has announced the rocket launch which was cancelled last week has been rescheduled for Tuesday morning.

The Terrier-Improved Orion suborbital sounding rocket will test several new rocket technologies. The launch is scheduled to launch from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility between 8:00 AM and 11:00 AM, according to a NASA news release.

The Visitor Center will open at 7:00 AM for those who want to watch the launch, which will also be viewable from certain areas along the seaside coast. Backup dates for the launch are Wednesday and Thursday.

The launch also can be viewed on NASA's website(below) beginning at 7:00 AM on launch day. The status of the launch also can be followed on Twitter or by calling (757)824-2050.


More Information NASA's Website

Rocketry For Campers

PRINCESS ANNE -- A group of middle schoolers gathered in a field near the UMES driving range on Wednesday to launch small rockets they had built from kits and painted with bright colors over the past week.

But a strong wind that blew across campus might mean postponing the launch, said Berit Bland, a NASA employee working with this year's Reach for the Stars science camp.

The students could launch one or two as a test before setting off the rest, she told them.

"That's the nature of the beast in rocketry," she said. "Safety is the number one issue."

As the first one soared into the air, apparently unaffected by the wind, a cheer went up from the 35 students, their parents and other spectators.

"It's a lot of fun," said Taylor Dumpson, 14, who will be entering Wicomico High School in the fall, and has spent the past four summers in the camp.

The camp, which runs for two weeks, is held in cooperation with NASA and Mid-Atlantic Institute for Space and Technology, a non-profit association based in Pocomoke. Students from Worcester and Wicomico counties learn about robotics from engineers who work at NASA and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

The camp's focus is to encourage students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and at least one participant said she is headed in that direction.

"At first I just wanted to go to camp because it sounded like a lot of fun, but it's opened my eyes to the engineering field." said Samantha Dykes, 14, who is in her third year at the camp and will enter Snow Hill High School in the fall.

The campers work alongside high school and university students, who are participating as interns in the STEP UP (Science, Technology and Engineering Pipeline for Underserved Populations) program sponsored by NASA and the Mid-Atlantic Institute.

They also launch, track and analyze the flight path of their rockets, said Brenda Dingwall, equal opportunity manager at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility and the camp's program director.

One-third of the participants are teens with disabilities, while another third are considered at-risk. The rest are traditional students, Dingwall said.

The camp also helps build teamwork.

"We deliberately pair them with kids they don't know," she said. "It's very interesting to see what happens."

www.somersetherald.com

NASA Plans Airstrip For Unmanned Planes At Wallops

ATLANTIC, VA

NASA plans to build an airstrip for unmanned planes on the north end of Wallops Island.

A public meeting on the proposed airstrip is scheduled for 6 to 9 p.m. Aug. 2 at the Wallops Island Flight Facility's visitor center.

NASA says the airstrip's orientation would be different than the existing strip. That would allow Unmanned Aerial Systems planes to take advantage of prevailing winds.

NASA says larger and heavier unmanned planes could operate from Wallops Island.

The proposed airstrip also would resolve range use conflicts between rockets and the unmanned planes.

www.hamptonroads.com

Lunar Eclipse in Central and Western United States

(June 26) -- Early risers in the central and western United States were greeted with a celestial treat this morning, as the moon passed through the earth's shadow, causing a lunar eclipse.

Over half the moon was darkened this morning, starting at around 6:17 am eastern time, according to the BBC. The moon also appeared unusually large, thanks to a little-understood phenomenon called the Moon illusion.

When this occurs, low-hanging Moons appear "unnaturally large when they beam through trees, buildings and other foreground objects", according to the NASA website. The reasons for this are not clear.

"The lunar eclipse was beautiful as it set over the distant Owyhee Mountains on Saturday morning!" Jared Aicher of Boise, Idaho told Spaceweather.com. "The light was changing rapidly, and show was magnificent."

The next lunar eclipse is due in December.

Today's eclipse was also visible over large parts of Asia. Over 3,000 people gathered at the Singapore Science Centre's Observatory to catch a glimpse of the event.

"A partial lunar eclipse is a beautiful thing," Dr Tony Phillips said on the NASA website.

www.politicsdaily.com

Rocket Launch A Success

College students are looking forward to studying their experiments being carried in a suborbital rocket launched from Virginia's Eastern Shore.

The Terrier-Orion suborbital sounding rocket launched Thursday morning from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. The rocket was estimated to be traveling more than 2,650 miles per hour less than a minute into the launch.

The rocket carried 11 experiments that were developed in part with a weeklong workshop on how to build small experiments for launch aboard suborbital rockets.

A boat was to travel more than 40 miles from shore later Thursday to retrieve the rocket from the water. The students whose experiments were on board will have them returned for study.

www.shoredailynews.com

Rocket Trial Run Heads For NASA

Here are a couple of thumbnail photos of the "mock rocket" as it travels to NASA today.

Upon reaching Rt. 13 the rig proceeded south in the north bound lane. Once it reached the Md/Va line at Dixieland it maneuvered into the south bound lane.

No, there was NO rocket. This was just a "test" or "trial run" to give insight towards the actual rocket trip to NASA in a few months.

Even so, I bet this was an awsome sight to behold and I imagine alot of people scratched their heads and wondered "what the heck is that?"

Remember the trailer with cab measured over 100 feet long and probably 16 feet high.

If anyone was able to get any photos send them to us................

Thanks, Pat!

NASA Wants To Put Your Face In Space

WASHINGTON - NASA is inviting people to be a part of history with its Face in Space program.

Face in Space allows anyone to submit a picture of themselves to be sent on the final two shuttle missions set to launch this year.

Participants can upload a photo of themselves to the Face in Space website and choose to fly with the Discovery or Endeavour shuttles - or both.

When the mission is completed, each participant gets a certificate signed by the commander saying the photo was on board the shuttle with the crew.

"It's a great way to let people share in the excitement of the missions coming, be a part of history, and be a part of the space program," said James Hartsfield, NASA spokesman for the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Both the Discovery and Endeavour shuttles will travel to the International Space Station. The trips are the last two flights until the retirement of the space shuttle fleet.

The final mission is carrying the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, a new device that will allow NASA to learn more about the nature of the universe.

"It's probably a fitting instrument for that type of historic achievement," Hartsfield said.

Shuttle Discovery's STS-133 mission is set to launch on Sept. 16. Shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission is set to launch in mid-November.

However, Hartsfield warns the dates could change.

"You never know if a shuttle's going to launch until you see the smoke and fire," Hartsfield said.

Hartsfield urges everyone to participate in the Face in Space program, and, ideally, he would like to see the whole country take part.

www.wtop.com

PayPal Millionaire's Rocket Blasts Off On 1st Test Flight

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A multimillionaire's test rocket has blasted off on its maiden voyage.

SpaceX's brand new Falcon 9 rocket soared off its Cape Canaveral launch pad Friday afternoon. It's carrying a mock-up of the company's spacecraft, named Dragon. The goal is to put the capsule into orbit.

The first attempt to launch the rocket was aborted in the final few seconds earlier Friday.

NASA hopes to use the Falcon-Dragon combo for hauling cargo and possibly astronauts to the International Space Station, once the shuttles stop flying. The first supply run could come next year.

SpaceX — or Space Exploration Technologies — was founded eight years ago by Elon Musk, a South African-born entrepreneur who co-founded PayPal.

www.dailypress.com

Once-In-A-Lifetime Opportunity For Pocomoke Citizen

WALLOPS ISLAND -- Surface Combat Systems Center nominated a local citizen for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fly in a United States Navy F/A-18 Hornet Jet. The nomination process began in July 2009 and ended May 12, when Paul Becker of Pocomoke City, Md., flew out of Andrews Air Force Base aboard one of the world-famous Blue Angel Jets. Becker serves as the director of the Lower Eastern Shore YMCA.

The nominees are individuals from local communities who are defined as "people who help to shape attitudes and opinions of youth in their communities. People turn to key influencers for advice and information because they have credibility." The nominees selected could be leaders of youth organizations, guidance counselors, coaches, teachers, etc.

The Blue Angels' purpose for this program is "to maximize the Blue Angels' impact on recruiting by flying the right people who will share their experience and the Navy-Marine Corps message."

The Blue Angels' mission is to enhance Navy and Marine Corps recruiting efforts and to represent the naval service to the United States, its elected leadership and foreign nations. The Blue Angels serve as positive role models and goodwill ambassadors for the U. S. Navy and Marine Corps.

"It is people like Mr. Paul Becker who have a positive impact on youth in our community. Through his experience, we are hopeful that he can now share the Navy-Marine Corps message with them. His hard work within our community has not gone unnoticed," said Cmdr. John J. Keegan, commanding officer, SCSC.

www.easternshorenews.com

VA. Space Flight Academy Announces Day Camp Session

The Virginia Space Flight Academy is pleased to present a Day Camp session of Space Flight Adventure Camp, July 5 through July 9, 2010. This session offers local students between the ages of 11 and 15 the same unique opportunities that attract campers from across the U.S., at less than half the price of residence camp tuition.

Campers build and launch model rockets, explore robotics using Lego MindStorm kits, fly cross-country with Microsoft Flight simulator, engineer a simulated rocket launch in an actual NASA mission control room, go behind the scenes of many departments at NASA Wallops Flight Facility, and more!

www.shoredailynews.com
Camp tuition is $300, and bus service is available. Day camp registration is not available online, so call (757)824-3800 soon to reserve a spot for your favorite future space explorer.

Gov. McDonnell Proposes Funding to Spaceflight Center

Gov. Bob McDonnell is proposing additional funding for the Virginia Commercial Spaceflight Authority on the Eastern Shore.

Under proposed budget amendments outlined Tuesday, the governor would increase funding in the biennial budget by a total of more than $700,000.

The authority and Orbital Sciences Corp. entered an agreement under which the company would invest at least $45 million and create 125 jobs, provided the authority oversaw improvements at the spaceport.

The authority represents private investment at Wallops Island, which is a NASA flight center.

www.shoredailynews.com