Volume IX - Issue X - October 2007
Fascinating Projects
American Rail Project in Trouble: According to a story by Amy Gardner of the Washington Post on Wednesday, 29 August 2007, the Metro rail project to Dulles International Airport in the Washington, DC area is over budget, behind schedule and in trouble. Planned for more than 40 years, the 23-mile Metro extension from Falls Church to Loudoun County is among the region's highest transportation priorities. Washington, DC is currently one of the only major world capitals without rail service to its largest airport. Nearly $1 billion in federal funding is now apparently at risk.  According to the article, a Federal Transit Administration report last week placed the cost of Dulles rail's first phase to Reston at $2.83 billion -- an unacceptable sum under federal cost-efficiency rules. The report also predicted that the project would be completed 15 months later than scheduled. Commuters are now expected to take their first ride in March 2014. Some say the project is on the brink of collapse due to the need to involve the nearly dozen entities that have played critical roles over the years, including tax districts, county boards of supervisors, Washington Metro, and even the US Congress. Each group brings its own demands to the table, with each group capable of scuttling the project. Many months were lost as those players pursued agendas on such items as station locations, pedestrian amenities and the proposed tunnel through Tyson’s Corner. As cost estimates continued to soar, the lower the project's chances to qualify for federal dollars. To get the federal money, local and state officials have to prove that the project will attract enough riders to merit the cost. Failure to meet the federal requirements, they say, would not only paralyze the region's roads for a generation but also cripple its economy.
 "How can our nation's capital connect to the global economy and assume a leadership role in the world without a simple, easy connection to its international airport?" asked Virginia Transportation Secretary Pierce R. Homer. "We are the leader of the global economy. What happens when our leadership gets caught in traffic and can't get to the international airport? That's an embarrassing future to contemplate." To see the Washington Post article, visit Editor’s note: We at PMForum hope this project recovers, since we also want to be able to take the Metro from Dulles into DC some day. But this story also raises some interesting questions regarding project management. For example, were stakeholder management and risk management plans prepared and maintained for this program? Is the general public clearly understood to be a major project stakeholder by the PM team and contractors? Is there an effective program communications strategy and plan? Was the project life cycle correctly planned, with stage gate review and approval milestones incorporated, in order to properly manage the baseline and stakeholder expectations? Are prudent contracting processes being employed? Is there a project management governance process in place for this and similar big transit projects in the area? We hope this project becomes a case study for successful project management rather than a failure in the months ahead.
IPY Project on Display in Germany - German Antarctic Research Station Reported by Manfred Rieck in Wiesbaden
 How do scientists live and work in the Antarctic? Which technical difficulties need to be overcome in order to survive on the white continent? These are just some of the questions which interested individuals will find addressed from 10 – 17 h on September 8th at a public exhibition in Bremerhaven, Germany. On the company premises of JH Kramer (Labradorstr. 5, Bremerhaven) one section of the new research station Neumayer Station III will be displayed in its full size of 30 metres height by 24 metres width. The station’s scientific observatories for meteorology, geophysics, atmospheric chemistry and underwater acoustics will present Antarctic research through hands-on participation. The central power station, forming the core of Neumayer Station III, will also be open for viewing.
 Construction ProgressVisitors at the September 8 event can learn about construction and operation of a modern research station, as well as about the future of German polar research in the Antarctic. Supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), construction of Neumayer Station III is realised during the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2009. All visitors can also utilize free bus transportation service on this day. Between 9.00h and 16.00h, hourly shuttle busses will run from Bremenhaven’s main railway station via the German Maritime Museum bus stop to the event’s venue in the fishing harbour, and back. Your contact person in the public relations department of the Alfred Wegener Institute is Dr. Ude Cieluch (Tel: ++49-471-4831-2008, email: medien@awi.de). Further Information as well as printable images can be found on our webpage at http://www.awi.de/de/aktuelles_und_presse/pressemitteilungen/ The Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) conducts research in the Arctic, Antarctic and in oceans of temperate and high latitudes. The AWI coordinates polar research in Germany, and provides important infrastructure, such as the research icebreaker Polarstern and research stations in the Arctic and Antarctic for international scientific enterprises. The Alfred Wegener Institute is one of 15 research centres of the 'Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft' (Helmholtz Association), the largest scientific organisation in Germany. IPY Project: Cape Farewell International Youth Expedition Reported by Miles Shepherd in the UK According to a press release received on August 30, Cape Farewell is the first climate change youth expedition to the High Arctic and will hold an official “launch” at Southbank Centre in London on 9 September 2007. The actual expedition will occur during 14-23 September 2007. The Cape Farewell expedition will voyage north of the 79th parallel to the fragile extremes of Svalbard in the High Arctic with twelve students from Germany, Canada and the UK to investigate and raise awareness of the impacts of climate change. In a landmark arts, science and media project, the young people will work alongside artist Dan Harvey, Professor Mark Maslin of University College London's Environment Institute and others to develop scientific and creative projects. Cape Farewell is part of the International Polar Year (IPY) programme.  The students will live, work and help sail the 100-year old sailing schooner The Noorderlicht, working on subjects such as changing weather patterns and retreating glaciers. Youth expedition leaders, teacher and filmmaker Colin Izod and science teacher and choreographer Suba Subramanian, together with onboard artists, scientists and educators will mentor and support the development of the projects. Daily video reports, blogs, webcams and message boards will be sent live from the boat to voyage.capefarewell.com and screens at Southbank Centre in London. The projects that the young people develop, both at sea and with their schools, will become an international educational resource. The expedition launch - at Southbank Centre on Sunday 9 September – will be a festive event hosted by comedian Marcus Brigstocke in the Royal Festival Hall with a special maritime send off for the students down the Thames. It will also mark the departure in October of Cape Farewell's fourth art and science expedition. Musicians, singers, the Cape Farewell youth team and artists past and present, including Vikram Seth, Marcus Brigstocke, Beth Derbyshire, William Hunt, Dan Harvey & Heather Ackroyd and Max Eastley join with David Buckland, founder and director of Cape Farewell, Jude Kelly, Artistic Director of Southbank Centre and Professor Mark Maslin to celebrate the imminent voyages. The day’s event will be part of Southbank Centre's environment weekend Saving Paradise, beginning on Saturday 8 September with Paco Pena's Requiem For the Earth and Gamelan Wayang, an all-night session of traditional Javanese storytelling, shadow puppetry and music. When this youth expedition returns, Cape Farewell's art and science voyage – its most ambitious expedition to date – will attempt to sail the 78th parallel to eastern Greenland, a passage only made possible due to the melting sea ice. Taking over two weeks (23 September – 10 October), the expedition will cross the north Atlantic to the extreme frontline of climate change before sailing south to Scoresby Sund in Greenland.  That expedition will bring together writer Vikram Seth, comedian Marcus Brigstocke, artists Amy Balkin, Kathy Barber, David Buckland, Beth Derbyshire, Dan Harvey, William Hunt and Brian Jungen and journalist Benjamin Jervey. Dr Simon Boxall of the National Oceanography Centre and his team will continue monitoring the robustness of the Gulf Stream and a media team lead by acclaimed environmental photographer and filmmaker, Nick Cobbing, will document the expedition and the most recent impacts of climate change. Cape Farewell brings artists, scientists and educators together to bring about long-term changes in cultural attitudes towards climate change. Created by artist David Buckland, Cape Farewell has led a series of expeditions into the Arctic exploring the seas that hold the key to understanding the changes in our weather patterns and climate. Cape Farewell begins an ambitious three-year collaboration with Southbank Centre and the Eden Project in 2007 and in August began operating as a cultural eco-hub at Southbank Centre as part of their creative climate change initiatives. Work from the Cape Farewell artists will be presented at Southbank Centre and the Eden Project and new and existing work will be shown internationally. Cape Farewell is working with an expanding group of partners, including Creative Partnerships, the British Council and the Barbican to bring its cultural work to a national and international audience at this critical time for the planet.
 Cape Farewell's programme includes three separate journeys on the Noorderlicht schooner 79 ° North to the Svalbard archipelago with artists Heather Ackroyd & Dan Harvey, Kathy Barber, David Buckland, Peter Clegg, Gautier Deblonde, Max Eastley, Nick Edwards, Antony Gormley, Alex Hartley, Gary Hume, Ian McEwan, Michèle Noach, Suba Subramaniam and Rachel Whiteread. Exhibitions include The Ice Garden, 2005 (Bodleian Library, Oxford), The Ship, 2006 (Natural History Museum, London) and Cape Farewell – Art and Climate Change, 2006 (Liverpool Biennial). Cape Farewell has also produced a publication, Burning Ice – Art and Climate Change, a BBC film and DVD, Art from the Arctic and Max Eastley's Arctic CD. Cape Farewell's programme is made possible through the support of the Arts Council England, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Bromley Trust, Ashden Trust, Compton Trust and Tate Britain (AHRC). www.capefarewell.com Arts Council England works to get more art to more people in more places. They develop and promote the arts across England, acting as an independent body at arm's length from government. Between 2006 and 2008, they will invest £1.1 billion of public money from government and the National Lottery in supporting the arts. This is the bedrock of support for the arts in England. The Arts Council believes that the arts have the power to change lives and communities, and to create opportunities for people throughout the country. www.artscouncil.org.uk The British Council is the UK's international organization for educational opportunities and cultural relations operating in 233 towns and cities in 109 countries and territories worldwide. They build relationships and understanding between people in the UK and other countries and increase appreciation of the UK's ideas and achievements overseas. www.britishcouncil.org Creative Partnerships is the government's flagship creative learning programme, designed to develop the skills of young people across England, raising their aspirations and achievements, and equipping them for their futures. Creative Partnerships is managed by Arts Council England and funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). www.creative-partnerships.com Project Disaster - Russian Rocket with Japanese Satellite Aboard According to press reports around the world on Thursday, September 6, 2007, a Russian Proton-M rocket exploded 139 seconds after a pre-dawn liftoff from Kazakhstan's Baikonur Space Center. The rocket was carrying a Japanese communications satellite, which was lost in the explosion. Kazakhstan has now suspended launches of the Russian Proton rocket at the Baikonur Space Center following the failed liftoff and loss of the Japanese payload.  Investigators in Kazakhstan found a huge crater and debris from the Russian rocket which crashed in unpopulated countryside. Fragments and a large crater were found in a cattle-grazing area near the city of Dzhezkazgan. In addition to the Japanese satellite, the rocket was carrying highly toxic fuel when it crashed. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev's special representative at Baikonur, Adilbek Bassekeyev, says a prior agreement between Russia and Kazakhstan stipulates the automatic suspension of Proton launches until all issues are cleared up. Preliminary reports indicate an engine malfunction and steering problem in the rocket's second stage. A spokesman for the Khrunichev Space Center, which produces the Proton launch vehicle, says an official investigation will look into the failure. The payload, a communications satellite owned by Japan's JSAT Corporation, was intended for re-transmission of television signals to Japan, the Asia-Pacific region and the Hawaiian Islands. The French news agency AFP quoted JSAT officials as saying the satellite was to have replaced one that is now in orbit. Russian military analysts told the VOA that the device was insured, but will take years to replace. Apparently this accident is very serious because the Proton has liquid heptyl fuel, a cancer-causing substance, which could have fallen on populated areas. The rocket explosion is also expected to hurt Russian profits in the satellite launch business, which is considered to be the most lucrative part of the space industry. The Russian space agency Roskosmos says a rocket booster motor malfunctioned shortly after launch from the Baikonur cosmodrome. A similar crash happened in late July, involving a Russian Dnepr rocket. After that incident, Roskosmos promised to pay Kazakhstan compensation for the environmental damage. The crash caused a fire in the steppe, but no casualties were reported. Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov, quoted by Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency, described this recent crash as "absolutely outrageous". “Kazakhstan would be fully compensated for environmental damage under existing agreements”, Russian Prime Minister Karim Masimov said, according to Russian news agencies.
Since the break-up of the Soviet Union, independent Kazakhstan has been leasing Baikonur (see photo) to Russia. It is the world's oldest space centre - the place where the first ever satellite was launched. Under an agreement with Kazakhstan, launches of Proton rockets from Baikonur were automatically suspended until the cause of the crash is determined. Russia has been aggressively trying to expand its presence in the international market for commercial and government satellite and space-industry launches, though its efforts have seen several high-profile failures. The July 2006 incident involved a Dnepr rocket carrying 18 satellites for various clients that crashed shortly after takeoff from the Baikonur, spreading highly toxic fuel over a wide area of uninhabited territory in Kazakhstan. The JCSAT-11 satellite lost in this latest crash was made by U.S.-based Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems and was to be used by Japan's JSAT Corp. The heavy-lift Proton, a top income-generator for Russia's space industry, is made by Khrunichev, a partner in International Launch Services. Sources: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6983835.stm Six Years On - Freedom Tower Grows from the Ashes Reported by Larry Suda in New York Six years after the terrorist attacks in New York City that brought down the two towers of the World Trade Center, killed nearly 3,000 people, and changed our lives, reconstruction of the New World Trade Center is now well underway. World Trade Center Tower 1, or Freedom Tower, is the centerpiece building of the new World Trade Center complex currently planned for Lower Manhattan. The tower will be located in the northwest corner of the 16-acre (65,000 m²) World Trade Center site, bound by Vesey Street, West Street, Washington Street and Fulton Street.  Three other high rises are planned for the site along Greenwich Street, plus a residential tower that will surround the World Trade Center Memorial, which is currently under construction. The area will also be home to a museum, highlighting many of the different aspects of the past and future World Trade Centers. Construction on below-grade utility relocations, footings, and foundations for the Freedom Tower started in April 2006. By December 31, 2006, the first steel columns were installed in the building's foundation. The steel for the building should be visible above grade in 2008, with a topping out in 2010. The building is projected to be ready for occupancy in 2011.
According to latest status, current activities underway at the construction site include installation of tower-foundation steel columns (with two cranes on site) and pouring of concrete for the foundation and rebar installation. When completed, Freedom Tower in New York is expected to be one of the most important buildings of the early 21st century. It is significant in stature, in design, in its politics, its symbolism, and for the reason it was built. The Freedom Tower is more than a real estate project. It is rehabilitation for those hurt by the terrorists and a way to heal the nation. Part of the healing process is new growth, which this tower represents. The current design is like a large sloping block with the corners carved off, so it appears that the entire building twists as it gets higher. The building faces will be huge triangles that taper toward the top and the bottom. At the center of the building, they will form an octagon. The skyscraper will be symmetrical. The new Freedom Tower will pay homage to the old twin towers in several ways. The base of the Freedom Tower will be 200 feet square -- the same dimensions as the original towers. The observation deck will be at 1,362 feet: the height of World Trade Center Tower Two. The glass parapet will be at 1,368 feet: the height of World Trade Center Tower One.
 The square base is a safety measure, not just an engineering method. Though it will be clad in glass prisms, the 186-foot-tall base will be a windowless concrete wall, intended to absorb and deflect the blast from car or truck bombs. The glass prisms will be coated with plastic like automobile safety glass to help absorb the impact. It is hoped that the prisms will refract light into color and make the monolithic security measure an eye-leasing curiosity. The corners of the base will taper inward, with small reflecting pools at ground level. The Freedom tower is just one of several buildings that will be erected to compose the new World Trade Center. The design is officially known as "Memory Foundations" because it leaves room for several memorials in the 16-acre complex. One of those memorials is the slurry wall, more commonly known as "the bathtub." This structure was the basement of the World Trade Center and served to hold back the Hudson River to keep it from flooding the complex. It was here that the remains of thousands of dead were found, and hundreds more who were never found. People will be able to walk down a ramp from ground level all the way down to bedrock along the edge of this wall -- the last original remaining piece of the twin towers. Sculptor Kenneth Snelson is working on the spire at the top of the building. Beyond the site, plans are also proceeding to revitalize various Lower Manhattan neighborhoods into a series of vibrant mixed-use neighborhoods, with the pending World Trade Center redevelopment as a focal point. The New York City Departments of City Planning, Transportation and Economic Development and the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation are working together on these revitalization and redevelopment efforts. Radiating from the pivotal point of the World Trade Center site itself, off-site revitalization projects will address a range of planning, design, and development issues, including: creating usable open spaces, developing residential uses, expanding and diversifying retail, leisure, and cultural uses, improving parks and the public realm, and improving transportation and access conditions.
The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) in New York City was created in the aftermath of September 11, 2001 by then-Governor Pataki and then-Mayor Giuliani to help plan and coordinate the rebuilding and revitalization of Lower Manhattan, defined as everything south of Houston Street. The LMDC is a joint State-City corporation governed by a 16-member Board of Directors, half appointed by the Governor of New York and half by the Mayor of New York. LMDC is charged with ensuring Lower Manhattan recovers from the attacks and emerges even better than it was before. The centerpiece of LMDC’s efforts is the creation of a permanent memorial honoring those lost, while affirming the democratic values that came under attack on September 11. For more information, please visit any of the websites noted below. Sources: TruckCity - A Project Concept for the Truck Transport Industry in Europe According to a news release out of Utrecht, The Netherlands, on 3 September 2007 a company called TCN Property Projects will launch a unique concept program of projects to be called “TruckCity”. The company will create “Truck Villages” along major European roadways to offer turnkey services for truckers and trucking companies and in response to increasing crime.  With TruckCity, TCN Property Projects has created a concept that takes advantage of the important developments in the growing European transport sector. In the near future, truck villages will spring up along vital international transport routes and near logistics junctions such as airports and seaports. Comprising at least six hectares in area, these villages will offer drivers and transporters everything their hearts desire - all under one roof, 24 hours a day and seven days a week. The drivers will find comfort and an at-home feeling here thanks to facilities such as hotel and catering services, and fitness and relaxation areas. Thanks to continuously guarded car parks, the safety for the driver as well as the cargo he carries will be guaranteed at TruckCity. For transport companies, apart from safety TruckCity also offers efficiency: the driver's rest period creates the opportunity for all sorts of maintenance and repairs to be performed on the trucks, and required inspections may be conducted as well. Bert-Jan Hemmen, Director of TCN Logistics: "Safety is becoming an increasingly more important theme in the transport sector. Research has shown that in Europe companies suffer nearly EUR 8.2 billion in losses due to thefts committed along the roads, particularly at car parks without security. As a result, drivers frequently feel unsafe, and consequently, sleep poorly. TruckCity offers companies and drivers safety and security through the presence of a proper and permanent security service on the property." In fact, TruckCity even contributes to road safety. Arnold Doornekamp, Director of TruckCity: "In the logistics industry, companies are becoming increasingly demanding when it comes to delivery.
With the stricter driving time legislation and increased traffic on the roads, it is becoming more and more difficult for transport companies to satisfy these demands. The pressure on truckers increases as a result, and this can prove rather dangerous since rest and maintenance are the two aspects that end up falling by the wayside. In other words, efficiency between resting and driving times is crucial. TruckCity will offer a solution to this problem: maintenance may be performed on the complete truck combination during the driver's rest period, from tyres to cleaning to the periodic motor vehicle test. The transport company therefore does not lose any additional time for service and maintenance, and the driver can truly relax, which means he can continue on his way again, well-rested and able to drive safely." TruckCity will be launched on 25 October 2007 at the opening of the BedrijfsautoRAI (European Road Transport Show). The concept will be rolled out along the most important European motorways in 2008. TCN Property Projects is a young and innovative real estate company. TCN Property Projects exploits and develops innovative real estate concepts and has offices in the Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Charlemagne, Spain, Austria and Hungary. Founded in 1994, the real estate concern applies an unconventional approach to complex real estate projects. Integrated project management ensures that value is created from the concept development stage all the way up to the real estate management phase. TCN Property Projects is staffed by over 250 employees. For further information on TCN Property Projects, please visit: http://www.tcnpp.com/
Japan Launches Mission to the Moon Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. announced the successful launch of the Lunar Orbit Explorer "KAGUYA" (SELENE) by the H-IIA Launch Vehicle No. 13 (H-IIA F13) at 10:31:01 a.m. on September 14, 2007 (Japan Standard Time, JST) from the Tanegashima Space Center.
The launch vehicle flew smoothly, and, at about 45 minutes and 34 seconds after liftoff, the separation of the KAGUYA was confirmed. At the time of the launch, the weather was clear, a wind speed was 5.9 m/second from the East South East, and the temperature was 29.8 degrees Celsius. According to the JAXA spokesperson, “We would like to express our profound appreciation for the cooperation and support of all related personnel and organizations that helped contribute to the successful launch of the KAGUYA aboard the H-IIA F13.” SELENE, SELenological and ENgineering Explorer, is a lunar orbiter designed to study the origin and evolution of the Moon and consists of a main satellite and two sub-satellites. It is equipped with 15 scientific instruments for observing the distribution of elements and minerals on the lunar surface, the lunar topography, the interior structure, and lunar magnetic fields. After separating from the main satellite, the sub-satellites will relay radio waves to Earth, transmitted from the main satellite while it flies over the far side of the Moon. Gravity fields on the lunar far side will be measured for the first time. SELENE is to be launched in summer 2007.
 KAGUYA will globally gather data on chemical element distribution, mineral distribution, topographical/surface structures, gravity field and the environment of the moon, all with higher resolutions than past lunar missions - by 14 sophisticated scientific missions. All of the data gathered by KAGUYA will bring new scientific knowledge for research of the origin and evolution of the moon. In addition, KAGUYA carries a high-definition television camera and will take a movie of the beautiful Earth rising from the Moon's horizon for broadcasting on Earth. Lunar missions by China and India are scheduled to be launched in 2007 and 2008 respectively. Both missions also aim to collect data for the research to the origin and evolution of the moon as well.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) was created in October 2003 through the merger of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), the National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan (NAL) and the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA). While space development and utilization, and aviation research and development, are the measures to achieve the nation's policy objectives, contribution to problem solving is also an important mission for JAXA. As a core organization for aerospace technology, JAXA will promote consistent activities, from basic research to technology development and utilization. JAXA will also pursue the enormous possibilities in space and aviation, and challenge various research and development fields in the aim of "Sustainable Development" in order to contribute to peace and happiness for all mankind. For more information, please visit http://www.jaxa.jp/index_e.html
Projects in Space: Google Offers $30M Prize for Private Moon Landing On Thursday, September 13, 2007, the X PRIZE and Google Inc. announced the Google Lunar X PRIZE, a robotic race to the Moon to win a $30 million prize purse. Private companies from around the world will compete to land a privately funded robotic rover on the Moon that is capable of completing several mission objectives, including roaming the lunar surface for at least 500 meters and sending video, images and data back to the Earth.  Bob Weiss, Larry Page, Peter Diamandis, and Buzz Aldrin (from left) point to where the X now marks the spot:the Moon. (credit: J. Foust)The Google Lunar X PRIZE will be an international competition to challenge and inspire engineers and entrepreneurs from around the world to develop low-cost methods of robotic space exploration. The X PRIZE Foundation, best known for the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE for private suborbital spaceflight, is an educational nonprofit prize organization whose goal is to bring about radical breakthroughs to solve some of the greatest challenges facing the world today. “The Google Lunar X PRIZE calls on entrepreneurs, engineers and visionaries from around the world to return us to the lunar surface and explore this environment for the benefit of all humanity,” said Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation. “We are confident that teams from around the world will help develop new robotic and virtual presence technology, which will dramatically reduce the cost of space exploration.” The $30 million prize purse will be segmented into a $20 million Grand Prize, a $5 million Second Prize and $5 million in bonus prizes. To win the Grand Prize, a team must successfully soft land a privately funded spacecraft on the Moon, rove on the lunar surface for a minimum of 500 meters, and transmit a specific set of video, images and data back to the Earth. The Grand Prize is $20 million until December 31st 2012; thereafter it will drop to $15 million until December 31st 2014 at which point the competition will be terminated unless extended by Google and the X PRIZE Foundation. To win the Second Prize, a team must land their spacecraft on the Moon, rove and transmit data back to Earth. Second place will be available until December 31st 2014 at which point the competition will be terminated unless extended by Google and the X PRIZE Foundation. Bonus prizes may be won by successfully completing additional mission tasks such as roving longer distances (> 5,000 meters), imaging man made artifacts (e.g. Apollo hardware), discovering water ice, and/or surviving through a frigid lunar night (approximately 14.5 Earth days). The competing lunar spacecraft are expected to be equipped with high-definition video and still cameras, and to send images and data to Earth, which the public will be able to view on the Google Lunar X PRIZE website. The X PRIZE Foundation is an educational nonprofit prize institute whose mission is to create radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. The Google Lunar X PRIZE is the third prize the Foundation has announced since its inception in 1995. In 2004, the X PRIZE Foundation captured world headlines when Mojave Aerospace Ventures, led by legendary aircraft designer Burt Rutan and Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen, built and flew the world’s first private spaceship to win the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE. The Foundation has since expanded its mission beyond space exploration. In 2006, the X PRIZE Foundation launched the Archon X PRIZE for Genomics, a $10 million competition in which the winning team will demonstrate the ability to sequence 100 human genomes in 10 days. The X PRIZE Foundation offers prizes for breakthroughs in the areas of life improvement, equity of opportunity and sustainability and is a model for fostering innovation through competition. For more information, please visit www.xprize.org. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google's innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Google's targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley (USA) with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit http://www.googlelunarxprize.org/. Sources: Google press release, issued on Thursday, September 13, 2007, at http://www.googlelunarxprize.org/lunar/press-release/google-sponsors-lunar-x-prize-to-create-a-space-race-for-a-new-generation
Two Major Environmental Protection Projects Get Underway According to news from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) this week, international efforts to make the scene of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident environmentally safe have taken a major step forward. On September 17 Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant signed two important contracts, one to build a new steel structure to seal off the damaged unit 4 with Novarka, a French led consortium, and another one to complete the spent nuclear fuel storage with Holtec International.  Currently unit 4 is protected by a shelter built immediately after the accident in 1986 under extremely hazardous conditions and which, despite recent successful stabilization works, is decaying. The “New Safe Confinement” will be an arch-shaped structure 105 meters high, 150 meters long and with a span of 260 meters. It will be constructed on the site and later be slid over unit 4. Construction work is expected to take 48-52 months and the shelter will then create the conditions for the ultimate dismantling of Chernobyl’s unit 4 which still contains 95 percent of its original nuclear inventory. Construction of the New Safe Confinement is the most visible project under the Chernobyl Shelter Implementation Plan (SIP) agreed between the Government of Ukraine and the international community in 1997. The plan contained many other elements which had to be completed over recent years in order to allow work on the confinement to begin. The total SIP cost is now estimated to be $1.39 billion.
A second contract signed with Holtec International is equally important. Holtec’s assignment is to complete the spent nuclear fuel storage facility for more than twenty thousand spent fuel assemblies generated during the operation of the Units 1-3 up to December 2000. A 1.5 year design and regulatory approval phase will be followed by delivery and installation of the equipment. The facility, to ensure safe and secure storage of the Chernobyl spent fuel for one hundred years, is a key element of the overall Chernobyl decommissioning plan. International donors contribute to financing these projects via donations to the Chernobyl Shelter Fund and the Nuclear Safety Account, which are managed by the EBRD. Together with the Government of Ukraine the Bank also ensures supervision of the effective implementation of the projects. EBRD President Jean Lemierre said this is an important day for Ukraine and the world. “This shows what Ukraine and the international community working together can achieve on a very difficult and complex issue. Everything that has been achieved so far is proof of the determination of all parties concerned to work together, to overcome difficulties and to find and implement joint solutions. The successful implementation of the project depends not only on the progress of the construction work, but also on the continued commitment of both the Ukrainian authorities and the international community.”
 As of end-June 2007, the Chernobyl Shelter Fund has recorded total contributions of €739 million from the following donors: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, European Community, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Donations have been made by Iceland, Israel, Korea, Portugal, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia. The Nuclear Safety Account has so far received contributions of € 285 million from: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, the European Community, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Ukraine and the United States. According to Wikipedia, the V.I. Lenin Memorial Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station is a Nuclear power plant in the city of Pripyat, Ukraine, 18 km northwest of the city of Chernobyl, 16 km from the border of Ukraine and Belarus, and about 110 km north of Kiev. It was the site of the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, but due to high power demand, continued to operate until December 2000. Workers remain at the site as the remaining three reactors at the Chernobyl plant, although no longer in operation, still contain nuclear fuel which needs to be monitored around the clock.
The Dawn Mission - NASA Spacecraft Launched NASA's Dawn spacecraft began its 1.7 billion mile journey through the inner solar system to study asteroids on Thursday, 27 September 2007. At 7:34 a.m. EDT. (12:34 GMT), the Delta 2 rocket, fitted with nine strap-on solid-fuel boosters, safely climbed away from the Florida coastline and launch complex 17B at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in USA.  "We have our time machine up and flying," said Dawn Principal Investigator Christopher Russell of the University of California, Los Angeles. The mission will investigate the near-Earth asteroid belt's largest objects, the asteroid Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres. Dawn is scheduled to begin its exploration of Vesta in 2011 and Ceres in 2015. The two icons of the asteroid belt are located in orbit between Mars and Jupiter and have been witness to much of our solar system's history. By using the same set of instruments at two separate destinations, scientists can formulate comparisons and contrasts. Dawn's science instrument suite will measure shape, surface topography and tectonic history, elemental and mineral composition as well as seek out water-bearing minerals.
Key members of NASA’s Dawn Project team include:
"Dawn will be history's first mission to go out into the solar system, orbit and explore a distant body, and then go on to a totally different celestial body and explore that one," said Dawn project manager Keyur Patel. The Dawn spacecraft is powered by a deep-space qualified engine called NASA Solar Electric Propulsion Technology Applications Readiness. Most people in the deep space exploration business just refer to it as "ion propulsion." The juice is, of course, electricity, courtesy of 54 feet of electricity-producing solar array. The gas is xenon, an inert, colorless gas that is four times heavier than air and is the propellant of choice for asteroid explorers everywhere. "Each of our three ion engines weighs in at 20 pounds and is about the size of a basketball," said Patel. "From such a little engine you can get this blue beam of rocket exhaust that shoots out at 89,000 miles per hour. The fuel efficiency of an ion engine is an order of a magnitude higher than chemical rockets and can reduce the mass of fuel onboard a spacecraft up to 90 percent. It is a remarkable system." Over the course of its eight year mission, first to Vesta and then to Ceres, Dawn's three ion engines will accumulate 2,000 days of operation - that is 5.5 years. Added Patel. "What we find when Dawn gets to Vesta and Ceres will re-write the history books on the beginning of our solar system. But how we get there is almost as remarkable, 1.8 billion miles to Vesta, months flying around it performing science adjusting our orbits as we go. Then we travel another billion miles to Ceres where we do it all over again. That is a lot to ask of a beam of blue light."
 Created in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is America’s focal point for research, development and exploration of outer space. In 2005, the US President and Congress committed the United States to exploring the solar system and beyond: completing assembly of the International Space Station, flying the new Crew Exploration Vehicle no later than 2014, returning astronauts to the moon by the end of the next decade, and sending human missions to Mars and beyond. For nearly 50 years, NASA has been leading the world in the development and usage of advanced program and project management. Additional information about NASA can be found at www.nasa.gov
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