Res Communis

Disasters Charter: Flood and Ocean Storm in El Salvador

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

The Disasters Charter has been activated for a flood and ocean storm in El Salvador:

Type of Event: Floods
Location of Event: El Salvador
Date of Charter Activation: 10/09/2009
Charter Requestor: UNITAR/UNOSAT on behalf of UN OCHA; USGS on behalf of Centro de Gobierno, El Salvador
Project Management: Cathalac

Description of the Event
Floods and landslides left at least 130 people dead in El Salvador after the Hurricane Ida ravaged parts of Central America. President Mauricio Funes described the disaster as a “tragedy” and said that the damage was “incalculable”.

FAA/AST: Record of Decision for Streamlining the Processing of Experimental Permit Applications

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

The FAA/AST has posted a Record of Decision for Streamlining the Processing of Experimental Permit Applications.

ESA-NASA Letter of Intent

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

From the BBC:

Nasa and Esa sign Mars agreement
By Jonathan Amos
Science reporter, BBC News

The US and European space agencies have signed the “letter of intent” that ties together their Mars programmes.

The agreement, which was penned in Washington DC, gives the green light to scientists and engineers to begin the joint planning of Red Planet missions.

The union will start with a European-led orbiter in 2016, and continue with surface rovers in 2018, and then perhaps a network of landers in 2018.

The ultimate aim is a mission to return Mars rock and soils to Earth labs.

The Washington document was signed by the heads of the agencies, Nasa administrator Charles Bolden and Esa director-general Jean-Jacques Dordain. . . .[Full Story]

EU GMES Documents

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

The Council of the European Union has posted several new documents of GMES:

15496/09 – Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions – Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES): Challenges and Next Steps for the Space Component

15496/09 ADD 1 – Commission staff working document Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES):Progress Report on the GMES Space Component – Accompanying document to the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions = Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES):Challenges and Next Steps for the Space Component

15496/09 ADD 2 – Commission staff working document Impact assessment – Accompanying document to the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions = Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES):Challenges and Next Steps for the Space Component

15496/09 ADD 3 – Commission staff working document Summary of the impact assessment – Accompanying document to the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions = Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES):Challenges and Next Steps for the Space Component

Need for UK Space Law Change?

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

From the BBC:

Law change call for space flight

A change in the law is needed before Scotland can be considered as a launch site for commercial space flights, the head of Virgin Galactic has said.

The firm’s president Will Whitehorn said locations in Scotland and Sweden were being considered as bases for Virgin’s European operations.

But he said UK laws would have to be amended to allow flights to take place.

Mr Whitehorn said UK ministers and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) was currently looking at the issue. . . . [Full Story]

FAA/AST: Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Streamlining the Processing of Experimental Permit Applications

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

The FAA/AST has released the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Streamlining the Processing of Experimental Permit Applications.