Tallahassee Democrat from Tallahassee, Florida • Page 8

2BTallahassee Democrat Monday, April 10, 2006 From Page ID tiww.Tl4AIllS.Si:t:.rom SEARCH rsl 13 MSM prepares tar dkmg spsiGe pirogfraonn 1,200 people, that had a four-day search with 300 volunteers per day. Gilmore's sister Attal-lah McLawrence was thankful for the community's help but still felt bittersweet about the weekend. "I was weary about the whole process," McLawrence said. "I want to bring this case to a closure, but I don't know if I'm ready to know what they find. I'm just praying for a miracle." Contact reporter Daniela Velazquez at (850) 599-2161 or dvelazqueztallahassee.com.

From Page IB organized. "We're trying to canvass as much as we can," said Brad Dennis of KlaasKIDS. "We would have loved to see more volunteers come out." Dennis said for a town Tallahassee's size and the connections Ali Gilmore had, the turnout was a bit low. Dennis mentioned a case of a missing person in Franklin, a town of hi P- -f PETER COSGROVE Associated Press files NASA workers were told that Atlantis will be the first of NASA's three space shuttles to be retired, most likely in 2008, and its parts will be used to keep the remaining vehicles flying. A By Mike Schneider THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CAPE CANAVERAL -As NASA celebrates the 25th anniversary of its first shuttle flight this week, the agency also steels itself for the biggest upheaval since the moon-shot days of Apollo in the early 1970s.

In just four years the three aging, behemoth space shuttles will be shelved likely headed to And by 2014, a brand new spacecraft will be flying one designed to get astronauts to the moon by and even-t a 1 1 Mars. This wrenching transition will be only the fourth such makeover for the program in READ MORE Space shuttles haven't worked out as planned, 4B. manned space the agency's nearly 50-year history. Critics already are grumbling about the lack of money to accomplish the shift to the new crew exploration vehicle. More than a fifth of NASA's proposed $16.8 billion budget for next year will be spent on developing the new vehicle system.

"The new crew exploration vehicle will come in late, over cost and underspent, and it will stress the agency to get it to function according to plan," said Duke historian Alex Roland, a persistent NASA critic who worked for the space agency in the 1970s. "It will underperform. It will be just a shadow of what they promised and by the time it's done, critics like me will ask "What's the payoff in the Need for change NASA Administrator Michael Griffin has acknowledged the agency will have to transform itself to carry out goals first articulated by President Bush two years ago. The transition will change everything from how astronauts are which NASA operations stay open, which pri-vate companies get multibillion-dollar contracts and the size of NASA's work force. "What we have ahead of us represents a challenge significantly greater than when we first went to the moon," Griffin said recently in a speech.

New classes of astronauts will have to practice flying in a vehicle quite different from the shuttle and learn how to extract resources such as oxygen from the moon's soil. They will be taught to grow vegetables in lunar greenhouses and conduct geological tests on the moon's surface. Already, engineers at United Space Alliance are studying now a crew will be JULIAN PECQUET Democrat Jim Longhurst demonstrates how to use his recent invention, Pants On Easy. Longhurst hopes to mass-produce the device targeted for those who have trouble bending over. able to train aboard the spacecraft on a three-year trip to Mars.

Eventually, Mars-bound astronauts will have to learn how to extract fuel and other resources from Mars' surface. "The requirement to live off the land will be crucial to our future in space, just as it was to Lewis and Clark," Griffin said recently. The crew exploration vehicle will be shaped like an Apollo-era capsule and hold six astronauts for trips to the space station and four for journeys to the moon. Under the proposed design, astronauts in the new space vehicle will be launched on one rocket, and the lunar lander and moon- Eropelling rocket parts will launched on another, much bigger rocket. Once in orbit, the capsule carrying the crew will dock with the lander and rocket and head for the moon.

The crew capsule will return to Earth by parachutes and can be used up to 10 times. Two competing contractors, Lockheed Martin and a team of Northrop Grumman and Boeing, each have received $60 million contracts to develop conceptual designs for the crew exploration vehicle. NASA will choose a winning bidder to build the spacecraft by August. NASA has stopped ordering some shuttle parts, and some work projects have been scrubbed as the shuttle program winds toward its end in 2010. In January, NASA cut in half its order of external fuel tanks.

Workers have stopped making upgrades to the space shuttles' cockpits. "There are smaller items, day-to-day work, that are between Apollo and the shuttle in the 1970s. But space-agency officials have a tough balancing act between keeping shuttle workers in place until the vehicles are retired and recognizing many workers will either have to be retrained or let go in four years. The new vehicles will require less servicing than the shuttles. Almost 2,000 NASA civil servants and more than 15,000 contractor employees work on the shuttles, mainly for United Space Alliance.

Many contractor workers who either have retired or resigned recently aren't being replaced and those sticking around are worried about significant job cuts, said Lynn Beattie, a crane operator at the Kennedy Space Center. "There's a lot of anxiety. Someone retires and we're just doing without. We're just doing with less people," said Beattie, 51, who also is president of Local Lodge 2061 of the International Association of Machinists. "If I were a younger worker here, I'd certainly be looking around to see what my opportunities are elsewhere I-would be very concerned about hanging my hat on this place being my career." But space shuttle program manager Wayne Hale had an answer to worried Kennedy Space Center workers at a recent all-hands meeting.

"It's not going to be like, shuttle ends and we send out our resumes and see if we can find a job at Wal-Mart or McDonald's," Hale said. "This is going to be, 'Oh My goodness! Where are we going to get enough people to do all the things on our PANTS From Page IB together." Through his invention, Longhurst joins a storied tradition of American inventors that can be traced back to Ben Franklin's invention of the lighting rod and bifocals more than 200 years ago. That tradition continues today with more than 85,000 patents issued to Americans last year. Almost 3,000 of those went to Flo-ridians, a healthy number, but way behind the nation's undisputed leaders in innovation, Califor-nians, who scored almost 20,000. There is a downside to all the activity, however.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office warns that thousands of inventors nationwide are targeted by companies that make bogus claims about their invention's potential success. "Remember," the office's Web site warns, "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." The office also fla a I I (I I III I being adjusted," said Anne Martt, a vice president of United Space Alliance, the primary private contractor that works on the shuttles. Parts problem A board of high-ranking NASA officials has begun deciding which of the millions of shuttle parts will be scrapped and which will be kept or retooled. Some parts, like the shuttles' solid rocket boosters, will be used in the new vehicles. "One of the challenges to me is the scope of this thing millions and millions of items of trackable equipment that at some point have to have some check that something has been done with them," said Mike Hawes, a deputy associate administrator at NASA.

"The volume will be considerable." The board also will decide which facilities, like the launchpads at the Kennedy Space Center, should be shuttered or refurbished and when. There, are still 16 to 17 shuttle flights needed to complete the space station, and there is still a possible mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. "We don't want to shut something down that could prevent us from completing that mission," said Robert Lightfoot, manager of the space shuttle's propulsion office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. "We don't necessarily want to shut them down if we're going to have to turn around and start them back up Fearing a loss of skilled workers, Griffin has said he doesn't want a big gap like the one that occurred HOW TO HELP Catholic Charities has helped Judy Poshe financially, but her needs continue to be a strain on her family. Donations for Poshe can be made to Catholic Charities, co Judy Poshe or Hurricane Katrina victims, P.O.

Box 20165, Tallahassee, FL 32316, or call the agency from noon to 5 p.m. weekdays at 222-2180. have lived eight years after her lung transplant, but tickets worth matching $10 each. Win for No tickets Saturday's Win for were was 31. and matching $600 four are worth No luck No tickets in the Georgia drawn $404 three ON THE WEB If you have an invention you want to put on the market, visit the United States Patent and Trademark Office's inventor resources page at www.uspto.govweb officescomiipindex.htm.

And make sure to read the Scam Prevention brochure before hiring a promotion, marketing or licensing firm. recommends getting a patent agent or attorney and keeps a roster on its Web site. For his part, Longhurst, who has never patented an invention before, is still waiting to see whether his product is successful. He said he has written to more than 200 manufacturers over the past year and has developed another invention a household cleaning item that he's also keeping secret. If that pans out, who knows, he might become a full-time inventor.

Tm full of ideas all the time," he said. "I'd never thought of it as a career. But rd enjoy it." Contact Julian Pecquet at (850) 599-2307 or ijpecquettallahassee.com. LOCAL NEWS CORRECTIONS 7b report a correction, please contact Jane Parrish at 599-2349 or fax 599-2295. Tallahassee Democrat How to contact the newsroom BobGabordi Executive Editor wearing seat belts at the time of the crash and had to be cut out of their cars.

The crash is still under investigation. LOTTERIES No lucky Lotto winners: No tickets matched all six numbers in Saturday's Lotto drawing from the Florida Lottery. The numbers drawn were 9-19-24-47-48-51. The 156 tickets matching five numbers are worth $5,879.50 each; the 9,079 tickets matching four numbers are worth $82 each; and the 191,257 tickets matching three numbers are worth $5.50 each. The estimated jackpot for Wednesday's drawing is $50 million.

Three Florida Fantasy winners: Three tickets sold matched all five numbers in Saturday's Fantasy 5 drawing of the Florida Lottery. The numbers drawn were 2-4-23-24-27. The tickets are worth $120,198.78 each. The 512 matching four numbers are $113.50 each, and the 15,828 three numbers are worth Life players empty-handed: matched all six numbers in drawing of the multistate Life. The numbers drawn 2-7-10-22-30-41; the Free Ball No tickets matched five numbers the Free Ball.

The 19 tickets five numbers are worth each, and the 44 tickets matching numbers and the Free Ball $200 each. for Georgia Fantasy players: matched all five numbers Saturday's Fantasy 5 drawing of Lottery. The numbers were 3-8-20-25-29. The 76 tickets matching four numbers are worth each, and the 3,058 matching numbers are worth $16 each. Democrat staff and news services Local TALLAHASSEE Woman dies in car crash A car crash on Gearhart Road left a Tallahassee woman dead Sunday morning, according to the Leon County Sheriffs Office.

Mary Bailey, 68, was driving her Honda Accord eastbound when a Honda Civic driven by Jacob Diebler, 22, of Tallahassee entered her lane and struck her, Deputy Pat Moran said. The crash occurred at 8:55 a.m. Bailey died at the scene. Diebler was taken by helicopter to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, where she was listed in serious condition Sunday. Both drivers were Tallahassee and Leon County 5993391 Gadsden 5993256 Wakulla 5993391 State government 6716561 Schools and universities 599-2256 Police and courts 599-2391 Traffic Doctor 5993303 News Hotline 599-2233 NATIONWORLD NEWS 59S-2297 SPORTS 5991167 FEATURES 5993314 BUSINESS NEWS 5991312 RELIGION 5991256 PHOTO 5993175 For a complete telephone For subscriber Information, see Page 2A list, see www.tallahassee.com Tallahasseecom For home delivery call 1-800-999-2271 ultimate wish," she said.

The smile on Poshe's face melted when she heard what Candace said Wednesday afternoon. She said she tries to be strong for her daughter. "Adolescence is hard enough. I don't want her to think, 'Oh, my mother's dying" Poshe said. "I'm sure she worries." Poshe also thinks about her 21-year-old daughter and 85-year-old mother, who live in Houston.

Poshe feels blessed to CARE From Page IB lungs are operating at 50-pcrcent capacity. Candace has witnessed her mother's struggle with health issues and with adjusting to living in a new environment. "If I could just take away anything that was a burden, that would be my she doesn't consider herself an inspiration to others or a walking miracle. For whatever time she has left, she wants to see her children happy. "I want to seem them grow up happy and stable, and I want to see that they can make it without me," Poshe said.

"I just want to make my family happy. I know my mother is horribly worried I'm going to die before her." Contact TaMaryn Waters at (850) 599-2162 or tlwaterstallahassee.com. TXiaaiiassee Drawatvr.