A new aviation business park and long, isolated runways in eastern North Carolina could be keys to attracting commercial space-travel companies here, according to experts who attended a forum Thursday at Elizabeth City State University.

Leaders in the industry spoke during the daylong NewSpace Commerce Forum, including Jeff Greason, CEO of XCor Aerospace in California; Robert Richards, CEO of Odyssey Moon Lt d.; and Jeff Krukin, a consultant in the field who helped organize the forum.

For those wanting to travel internationally, you will still have to go to Charlotte, NC or Raleigh, NC.  Everyone else looking to go to the Moon or Mars can just drive to the local spaceport.  It’s nice that we won’t have to travel all the way to Cape Canaveral for intergalactic trips.  On a more serious note, the rest of the above article is here.

When the North Carolina Department of Transportation began widening U.S. Highway 64 through eastern North Carolina a decade ago, they asked the University of Tennessee to study how the new road would impact wildlife.

Today, the completed four-lane highway shaves off an hour’s drive between Raleigh and the Outer Banks. It also cuts through some of the richest wildlife habitat in the South – thousands of acres of uninhabited swamps, pine plantations and agricultural fields with black bear densities as high as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

UT’s goal was to determine the effectiveness of underpasses in reducing wildlife-vehicle collisions, and also to assess the short-term impacts of the road construction on nearby black bears.

Frank van Manen, adjunct professor in UT’s department of forestry, wildlife and fisheries, said the U.S. Highway 64 study was unique in that the research team was able to collect data before and after the highway was built. Data collection occurred during the 2000-2001 preconstruction phase and in 2006-2007 after the road was finished.

The rest of the article can be found on the Knoxville News Sentinel Co website, here.

During the 2009 Leonid meteor shower, you may see anywhere from 30 to 300 shooting stars an hour, depending on whether you’re in the right place to see the showy peak on November 17, experts predict.

With the highest number of meteors streaking across the skies around 4:45 p.m. ET, the Leonids peak will be effectively invisible for viewers in North America and Europe.

In those regions, sky-watchers are advised to venture out away from bright city lights between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. on the 17th, when they should see 30 to 50 meteors an hour.

A Time for Science will not be hosting any events directly related to the meteor shower but would like to encourage everyone to get out and view the show in your own backyard.  The full article from the above post can be found on the National Geographic News website here.

Secrets the moon has been holding, for perhaps billions of years, are now being revealed to the delight of scientists and space enthusiasts alike.

NASA today opened a new chapter in our understanding of the moon. Preliminary data from the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, indicates that the mission successfully uncovered water during the Oct. 9, 2009 impacts into the permanently shadowed region of Cabeus cater near the moon’s south pole.

The impact created by the LCROSS Centaur upper stage rocket created a two-part plume of material from the bottom of the crater. The first part was a high angle plume of vapor and fine dust and the second a lower angle ejecta curtain of heavier material. This material has not seen sunlight in billions of years.

For the entire article, see the NASA website here.

Williamston, NC — The Town of Williamston, North Carolina, has earned the Audubon Sustainable Community Certification from Audubon International, a non-profit environmental organization. Members of Audubon International’s Sustainable Communities Program are eligible for the designation, which recognizes dedication to the process of becoming a sustainable community by completing a Vision 2020 plan. The plan covers 15 focus areas and members, like Williamston, must choose timelines and measurable goals. Once progress is documented, members can earn certification.  As Mayor Tommy Roberson states, “Audubon International and the Sustainable Communities Program has provided invaluable guidance, a useful framework for action, measurable goals, and third-party verification of our efforts to truly embrace sustainability as a core principle for our policies, plans, and practices.”

The entire article can be viewed on the Environmental News Network website, here.  Congrats Williamston, NC!!