Gen. Deal Fears Rushed Launch   

An investigator of the Columbia disaster fears more astronauts will die if NASA rushes ahead with a space shuttle launch this fall without making all the needed repairs. "An early launch could create the same conditions which cost us 16 lives," Air Force Brig. Gen. Duane Deal said earlier this week. He was referring to the crews of the Columbia and Challenger and two men who died in a helicopter crash while searching for shuttle debris. NASA's top spaceflight official insists, however, that the plan for resuming shuttle flights as early as September or October will be driven by milestones, not schedule. He stressed Wednesday that those months are merely planning dates. "If we don't meet milestones, we don'

Agency to Host 7th Annual Commercial Space Transportation Conference

FAA Associate  Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation Patricia Grace Smith has announced the Seventh Annual FAA Commercial Space Transportation Conference on Feb. 10 and 11 at the  Fairmont Hotel in Washington DC. This year’s event will focus on FAA efforts to help facilitate the first privately-launched manned space flight within the year. The conference also celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Commercial Space Transportation Office at the Department of Transportation (DOT). Panels throughout the first day will provide views from space transportation experts in the government and private sector who will focus on the history of commercial space transportation

Change In Next ISS Crew Lineup Considered   

U.S. and Russian space officials are considering changing the crew of the next mission to the international space station, a Russian space official said Wednesday. The proposed change came after NASA decided to replace astronaut William McArthur with Leroy Chiao, citing unspecified health reasons, said Sergei Gorbunov, a spokesman for the Russian space agency Rosaviakosmos. Valery Tokarev was to be the Russian on the mission, to begin April 19. Instead of the Chiao-Tokarev team, the agencies are now likely to send Michael Fincke and Gennady Padalka, who have spent considerable time training together, Gorbunov said. Russian officials claim Chiao and Tokarev didn't hit it off and had "psycho