|
News briefs: December 15-16
Posted: Mon, Dec 17, 2001, 10:21 AM ET (1521 GMT)
- A planned vote last week by the Senate Commerce Committee to confirm Sean O'Keefe as the next NASA administrator was blocked late last week when one senator put a hold on all confirmations. John Kerry (D-MA) is blocking a number of nominations, including O'Keefe's, to force the Senate to consider legislation to support small businesses.
- Officials in a Texas county announced plans last week to study a proposal to develop a spaceport there. Willacy County, on the Gulf coast south of Corpus Christi, is looking into developing a spaceport to serve commercial reusable spacecraft. Neighboring Kenedy County was one of three other sites in Texas that had considered spaceports, but opposition by some county citizens there stalled plans, according to the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.
- Most of the universe will eventually disappear from view as the universe continues to expand, astronomers recently reported. According to one study, the accelerating expansion of the universe will mean that only a handful of nearby galaxies, gravitationally bound to the Milky Way, will be visible in 50 to 100 billion years.
|
|
