Lockheed Martin has entered into an agreement with Bigelow Aerospace to pursue the potential of launching passengers on human-qualified Atlas V rockets. The destination would be a Bigelow-built space complex assembled from expandable modules. Bigelow's first launch of a prototype expandable module, Genesis I, took place on July 12th atop a Dnepr rocket from Russia.

I've never really understood the whole "human rated" thing -- its not like its "ok" if a launch vehicle failure destroys a $300M satellite or dumps it into a worthless orbit.

NASA seems to have dismissed launching people into LEO on Delta or Atlas out-of-hand and I'm not sure I really understand why -- their argument seemed to be along the lines of, "it would be cheaper to develop a new rocket from recycled STS parts than to re-certify existing vehicles."

But seeing as how the new "heavy" versions of Delta and Atlas can both launch as much as Ares I (~25000kg) into LEO, Ares I seems more and more redundant.

Bigelow Aerospace and Lockheed Martin Agree to Study Human-qualified Atlas V Rocket for Entrepreneurial Space Development | SpaceRef - Your Space Reference

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin will open potentially historic talks in Beijing this week on U.S. Chinese space cooperation. But Griffin must "thread the political needle" between a tough Bush administration policy on China and Chinese military secrecy and communist bureaucracy already disarming U.S. interest in manned flight collaboration.

Space Diplomacy - U.S., China open unprecedented discussions on cooperation | SpaceRef - Your Space Reference

The median price of a previously owned home fell for the first time in 11 years last month, and inventories of unsold homes swelled to levels not seen in more than a decade.

Home Prices Drop After 11-Year Ascent

Tennessee's First Commuter Rail Service

Rail service will begin weekday commuter operations on Monday, September 18, 2006 between Lebanon and Nashville.

Looks suspiciously similar to caltrain. But its really good that this is catching on elsewhere. Having a 30 or 40 mile commute to work isn't so great but doing it on the train is way better than sitting in traffic on the highway.

Music City Star commuter rail service

The first call to San Francisco police came in Tuesday at 12:47 p.m. -- a shiny black Honda Pilot had just plowed into another vehicle at Larkin Street and Golden Gate Avenue near Civic Center.

It's the kind of routine vehicle accident that police hear about innumerable times every day.

But this smashup was not routine. And it was no accident.

Within minutes, the driver of the Pilot would speed into the hills straddling the Western Addition and Pacific Heights, ripping back and forth through a 15-square-block area like a ripsaw on four wheels, leaping curbs, cutting corners and tearing the wrong way through traffic.

WTF?!

DRIVER'S RAMPAGE / Swath of central San Francisco terrorized as SUV guns for pedestrians

A new chewing gum containing good bacteria which prevent harmful bacteria from destroying our teeth has been developed by scientists working for BASF GmbH and OrganoBalance GmbH. There is also a good chance good bacteria could be added to deodorants to eliminate BO (body odour).

New Chewing Gum Can Prevent Tooth Decay

Voyager 1, already the most distant human-made object in the cosmos, reaches 100 astronomical units from the sun on Tuesday, August 15 at 5:13 p.m. Eastern time (2:13 p.m. Pacific time). That means the spacecraft, which launched nearly three decades ago, will be 100 times more distant from the sun than Earth is.

Voyager 1: 'The Spacecraft That Could' Hits New Milestone | SpaceRef - Your Space Reference

Now, after decades of debate, the board of the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District, which controls the bridge, has taken a step toward just such a barrier, last year approving a $2 million engineering and environmental study, and, on Aug. 1, the bridge district accepted four proposals from engineering teams. Officials seemed hopeful that they might soon have a definitive answer on a surprisingly intractable issue.

San Franciscans Try Again to Suicide-Proof the Golden Gate Bridge - New York Times

For these teddy bears, it was no picnic. On Tuesday night, at a tourist attraction called Wookey Hall Caves in western England, Barney, a Doberman pinscher guard dog, briefly ran amok among a collection of teddy- bears, including a 1909 German Steiff bear called Mabel that was reputed to have belonged, once upon a time, to Elvis Presley.

Doberman on guard duty whacks 100 teddy bears - Europe - International Herald Tribune

After two stalled attempts, NASA’s space shuttle Atlantis rolled out to its Florida launch pad Wednesday as workers ready the space plane for a planned liftoff later this month.

SPACE.com -- After Weather Delays, Space Shuttle Atlantis Reaches Launch Pad