spacetoday.net: News briefs: September 11

Posted: Wed, Sep 12, 2001, 12:50 AM ET (0450 GMT)
Several major aerospace companies closed offices or curtailed operations after Tuesday's terrorist attacks in Washington and New York City. Boeing closed several offices, including its new corporate headquarters in Chicago and space-related facilities in California, Houston, and Florida, after the attacks, but many factories remained open. Lockheed Martin also closed several facilities, according to SPACE.com, and was unsure if a planned September 17 launch of an Athena rocket from Alaska would be affected. XM Satellite Radio also cancelled a September 12 event to promote the limited rollout of its satellite radio service... Astronomers have successfully recalibrated the Faint Object Spectrograph (FOS) instrument from the Hubble Space Telescope, ESA announced Tuesday. FOS provided data for over six years until it was replaced during a shuttle servicing mission. The recalibration should allow scientists to reexamine the old FOS data to better study galaxies, nebulae, and black holes... The ABC television network is planning a new drama series about NASA, according to a Variety article published by Reuters. "Astronauts" will focus on the conflicts between astronauts and "the inherently political nature" of NASA, according to the report. ABC has committed to a pilot for the series for the 2002-03 season.