This week in science

4 Vesta as captured by the NASA Dawn Spacecraft at a distance of 26,000 miles on 9 July 2011

As the shuttle winds down, the feeding on its bones begins. Sadly, my own home state representatives are lining up with the wolves and vultures:

Today there are four Real space states ? and we aren?t one of them. They are Florida, Virginia, New Mexico and California. States not only home to NASA or DOD facilities, but entrepreneurial space companies and space ports. They have high-level pro-active support for research and education, favorable tax and other laws, state chartered organizations and serious amounts of state and local money to draw what I call New Space companies. --Rick Tumlinson

The reason Texas isn't in the game is because this state is controlled by hypocritical conservatives who love their Big Gubmint money and could care less about commercial space. Beyond the obvious political waffling it's a pity. Because, for a quirk of geography, South Texas is the best location for a full blown, sci-fi, ground to orbit spaceport in the entire United States. And all the kick ass, high paying jobs that would go with it.

• As seen above, the Dawn spacecraft successfully entered a looping orbit around Vesta on July 14. The ion powered probe will spend the next year sweeping ever closer to the myserious object before heading off for the dwarf planet Ceres.
• A new report states, "The loss of large predators and large herbivores may be 'humankind's most pervasive influence on nature,' according to a paper published in journal Science."
• Just as there's fake balance in politics, science is also beset by the affliction. And Orac is deep in the herat of it here and here.

Source: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/53Zqbwehoy0/-This-week-in-science

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