It's another space mission gone wrong. A U.S. satellite was not able to head on to its planned orbit due to a failure by the Russian rocket carrying it. But not to worry, things can definitely be fixed although it can affect the lifespan of the satellite. Read more on this mission in the full article.

Remember the news about the satellite that the US lost contact with back in late January? Well, someone believes that it might be harmful to denizens of planet Earth once it re-enters after all. The Pentagon's top brass that think shooting it down is the best way to stop NROL-21, the recon satellite, from burning up in the atmosphere and releasing its poisonous rocket fuel.

*UPDATE*: They're gonna shoot it. And they've probably launched now!

New contracts for the next-gen space systems have landed at NASA's Michoud Facility in New Orleans which will provide a boost to the state's current economy that's still being rebuilt after hurricane Katrina ravaged the land and its people. The new contracts will bring more jobs and higher wages to New Orleans. Check out the rest of the details at the full article.

We reported last March that Lockheed Martin Corporation aimed for Manned Space Flight. Well it's official because NASA has awarded a multi-billion dollar contract to actually build a manned lunar spacecraft.

This is interesting for several reasons, most apparent is that the last time NASA has outsourced with Lockheed Martin for a manned ship was way back in 1996. This was for the space plane that was supposed to replace the aged space shuttle. Some $912 million was spent but the ship called x-33 was never built.

Next point of interest is the ship itself, Lockheed Martin was chosen to build the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle. Again it's supposed to replace the space shuttle, but this time it has the goal to take astronauts to the moon and even perhaps Mars.

The last time we put people on the moon was in 1972.

The Orion spaceship is deliberately designed to look similar to the original baby boomer set. As NASA administrator Michael Griffin said, "Apollo on steroids." NASA wants Orion to be capable of delivering four astronauts to the moon, and six to the international space station. They also want Orion to have its own service module for lunar trips.

If all goes well, NASA estimates that the first test flights will be on September 2014. NASA adds that astronauts could possibly be returning to the moon by late 2019 or 2020.

Since last July, the US Government Accountability Office has warned that it was wrong for NASA to be choosing a contractor by late August-September. According to them the space agency was choosing a contractor without "well-defined requirements, a preliminary design, mature technology and firm cost estimates for the project." The GAO says, "This approach increases the risk that the project will encounter significant cost overruns, schedule delays and decreased capability."

“NASA’s current acquisition strategy for the CEV places the project at risk of significant cost overruns, schedule delays, and performance shortfalls because it commits the government to a long-term product development effort before establishing a sound business case,” writes the Government Accountability Office (GAO) of NASA's plan to award the CEV prime contract to either Lockheed Martin or Northrop Grumman-Boeing by August 31. Yet despite these warnings, NASA still decided to proceed with readying, developing, and producing the Space Shuttle-replacement.

Here is what NASA spokesman Michael Braukus has to say about GAO's report (entitled “NASA: Long-Term Commitment to and Investment in Space Exploration Program Requires More Knowledge,”): “We do not concur with GAO’s recommendation that the NASA administrator modify the CEV acquisition strategy. The agency’s business approach is consistent with the GAO’s recommendation and NASA is confident that its acquisition strategy and plans for selecting a CEV prime contractor are based on a sound business case and are in the government’s best interest.”

GAO, however, thinks otherwise. The agency noted that NASA is acting prematurely, pushing a CEV procurement even before developing a sound business case like well-defined requirements, preliminary design, mature technology, and firm cost estimates. GAO's worries do not end there. They are also questioning NASA's financial ability to return to the Moon by 2020.

NASA has been warned. If they choose to move forward with the CEV acquisition let us just hope that, contrary to GAO's predictions, their decision will reap good results.

The Space Shuttle is set to retire by 2010 and NASA is seeking a CEV to pass the Space Shuttle's baton to. Two teams, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman/Boeing, are up for the picking. Both have already submitted their respective proposals and are tight-lipped about it.

"We’re clearly in a competition. I don’t feel it’s the right time to be coming out with a lot of details about how we plan to tackle the job," said Doug Young, Vice President and CEV Program Manager at Northrop Grumman.

As expected both teams are claiming that they are what NASA is looking for and are not afraid to let their competition have some dose of trash (or space) talking.

"We think we are offering NASA a really good team," said Art Stephenson, Sector Vice President, Space Exploration Systems, Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems. "Our proposal is focused on what’s the best answer for the taxpayer and for NASA." While on the other camp, John Karas, Vice President of Space Exploration for Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company declares, "Everything except the shape [of CEV] is brand new. It’s not your daddy’s Oldsmobile."

NASA keeps mum about the issue by saying that they are currently evaluating proposals and plan to down select and award the Phase 2 contract in the August/Spetember time frame. "All other information is competition sensitive and will not be provided at this time," said Michael Braukus, a NASA Headquarters spokesman.

Not content with terrestrial bloodshed and violence, mankind presses on boldy to continue its wars where no wars have been fought before.

In yet another multi-million dollar coup for defense contractors, the Pentagon has endorsed plans that may lead to U.S. missile "defense" systems in outer space. It light of recent history, it should come as no surprise that the governments of Russia and China are not pleased at the prospect.

The idea is to create what the Pentagon calls a "test bed." It would start with only one or two missiles designed to intercept ICBMs carrying nukes, or possibly chemical or biological weapons. Kenneth Trieg, Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, states "I'm supportive of creating a test bed...then we'll see what we do with it afterwards."

At a time of huge tax breaks for weathy investors that have drained the U.S. public treasury into private corporate accounts, the Missile Defense Agency is seeking $45 million in seed money to begin development starting in October of 2007. Corporations standing to profit from the spread of warfare into outer space include Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.