A "Review of United States Human Space Flight Plans" chaired by Norman Augustine has recently been anounced, to report at the end of August or later. A potentially important piece of good news is that "stimulating commercial space flight capability" is one of the subjects to be addressed by the review.

Dr. Simonyi is currently on his second trip to space, which is the seventh civilian trip brokered by US company Space Adventures. However, it will be the last for civilian space explorers for the foreseeable future. Due to expansion of the International Space Station ( ISS) crew from three to six starting in April, there will be no extra seats aboard the Soyuz capsules for non-professional space travelers.

In a hastily arranged teleconference on Friday, 3 April 2009, Space Adventures president and CEO Eric Anderson laid out some new developments for the company, the only one in the world that has arranged for private citizens to travel to the International Space Station, starting with Dennis Tito in 2001.

“The second time around” usually refers to marriages, love affairs, and attempts to finish what one started.

The first Teacher in Space program began in 1984, with teachers Christa McAuliffe and Barbara Morgan chosen from 11,000 applicants as the first to fly. Unfortunately for all concerned, McAuliffe lost her life with other six astronauts when the space shuttle Challenger blew up 74 seconds into its flight. NASA shelved the program, and for the next twenty years no teacher/educator has made it across the threshold of the next frontier until Barbara Morgan finally flew in 2007.

On Thursday, 2009 March 12, a tiny piece of space debris from an old rocket motor caused the three astronauts aboard the International Space Station ( ISS) to don their space suits and hustle to the attached Soyuz spacecraft just in case—just in case the 13-centimeter-diameter (about five inches wide) poked a hole in their home away from home.

US President Obama’s budget containing some hopeful directions for the space program…we think. Nestled within the thousand-page document is an increase in NASA’s budget: US$18.7 billion for 2010, which is US$2.4 billion more than the total for 2008; the House of Representatives also passed a bill on February 25, 2009, increasing the budget by US$360 million to the human space exploration budget for 2009.

On 31 January 2009, the New Mexico-based Spaceport America (NMSA) has announced that Spaceport America now has a new “sister spaceport.” The NMSA has successfully entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with officials of Spaceport Sweden, based in Kiruna, Sweden.

Commercial space tourism got off to a good start for 2009 with the New Year’s Day announcement by New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson that Virgin Galactic has signed a 20-year lease agreement with the state of New Mexico.

Space is closer than we think, the BBC reports.