ORBITS: News Briefs…

How to Become Number Three In The PC Manufacturing World…
Although not satellite related, but of interest to most of us in the industry is the announcement by Acer Inc. to acquire Gateway Inc. (GTW) for $710 million. This will certainly ensure Acer the third largest personal computer manufacturer in the world. Pending regulatory approvals in the U.S. and Taiwan, the acquisition should close by December with Acer offering $1.90 per share. That’s a premium of 57 percent to Gateway’s closing price of $1.21 on Friday, August 24th. Yesterday, Gateway shares climbed 49 percent to $1.80—Tapei, Taiwan—August 29, 2008

Give The Arm A Hand…
NASA is relocating a pressurized component of the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday and the action will be televised on NASA TV. This is the first step toward adding new international science labs to the orbiting outpost and is the first time a move is being conducted without a space shuttle present. The Expedition 15 flight engineers are going to use the station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm to detach a large docking adapter from one port of the Unity connecting node and attach it to another port. The move is going to make room for the attachment of the Harmony connecting module, or Node 2. This will be delivered to the ISS on the next mission, targeted for a late October launch. You can visit https://www.nasa.gov/ntv to view the streaming video—August 29, 2007

Cracking Down On Cracks
Also from NASA are the results of X-rays revealing miniature fissures in the fuel tank’s insulation set for installation on two space shuttles. These mini-cracks could be the explanation as to why Endeavour shucked off the insulating foam during its blast-off earlier this month. If you’ll recall, one of the insulation pieces struck the underbelly of the shuttle and caused a small gash in a heat tile. This resulted in safety concerns for the crew during Earth re-entry. These new tank cracks were located on a cork layer that covers aluminum brackets for the liquid oxygen feed lines. The extra work required to complete repairs should not delay the October 23rd launch of the Discovery shuttle. From now, the fuel tank brackets will be constructed from titanium and will require far less foam coating for protection—August 29, 2007

Much Ado About Monitoring
Scripps Networks had been recording direct satellite off-air feeds to tape using time-lapse video recorders. Now, that has changed, and the network has decided to move to server-based technology. So Scripps now uses the Observer desktop video monitoring system from Volicon to monitor all of their networks. The Observer offers easy compliance recording of nine feeds and serves as a tool for strengthening relationships with viewers and business partners. Volicon will be at the upcoming IBC exposition at Booth 12P.109—Burlington, Massachusetts—August 29, 2007

Dishing Up New Services In Germany
A new contract for SES ASTRA (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange:SESG) will bring high-speed Internet access ASTRA2Connect to German consumers. The contract was signed with H3 Netservice and they’ll market ASTRA2Connect through retail partners to end consumers. There will be three service packages with all of the necessary hardware, from the satellite dish with an interactive device to a low-cost and easy-to-install modem, made available directly through H3 or through retailers. ASTRA2Connect is a fully-satellite based solution for broadband access delivering dual- and triple play services without any terrestrial support. SES ASTRA delivers DTH services to more than 109 million DTH and cable households in Europe—Betzdorf, Luxembourg—August 29, 2007

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