Space tourism firm fined for deaths
Mojave, Calif. (UPI) Jan 19, 2008 Rocket pioneer Burt Ratan's space tourism company has been fined $25,870 for an accident that killed three workers at its test site in Mojave, Calif. Scaled Composites was fined by state authorities for violating workplace safety codes, including failing to properly train workers to handle hazardous materials, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday. Eric Blackwell, 38, Charles May, 45, and Todd Ivens, 33, were killed in an explosion at the Mojave Air and Space Port July 26. Three other workers were hurt in the blast when nitrous oxide ignited during a test of the spacecraft's propellant system, the Times reported. The violations since have been corrected and no criminal charges have been filed against the company, which in 2004 became the first private firm to launch a reusable manned rocket into space. Related Links Rocket Science News at Space-Travel.Com
Ground Broken On Michoud Assembly Facility In New Orleans New Orleans LA (SPX) Jan 18, 2008 NASA and Louisiana leaders broke ground in December for a $40 million, five-story Research and Development Administration Building at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. Participating in the groundbreaking ceremony were Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco; Michael Olivier, Louisiana secretary of economic development; Robert Lightfoot, deputy director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.; and Sheila Cloud, transition director of the Michoud Facility. |
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