Credit: Spaceport America, GMU, Futures Channel

Commercial Spaceports Gaining Attention: New Mexico's Spaceport America Designs (R) Unveiled; Spaceports Documentary (TL) Released By The Futures Channel; Spaceport Infrastructure Handbook Written At George Mason University Looks At Current And Proposed Spaceports, As Well As Projections Into 2020, 2050

Highlights	Global
Discovery STS-120 to launch 23 Oct to ISS; preview briefing on 14 Sep; Flt Eng Dan Tani to replace C Anderson of E15	ISS E15 crew rehearsing maneuvers for arrival of ESA Jules Verne ATV next Jan; E16 crew launches 10 Oct
X Prize to announce new space prize at 'Wired NextFest' on 13 Sep in Los Angeles CA; "largest space prize ever"	S Korea selects 30-yr old computer engineer Ko San to be nation's 1st astronaut; will fly to ISS in Apr via Russia
Virgin Galactic, CEO Richard Branson planning 1st suborbital trips for Mar 2009; spaceships to be ready in 9 months	China Chang'e-1 model with payloads on display at ongoing 6th Intl Equipment Show in Shenyang; VLBI school wraps up
UP Aerospace inks deal with Phoenix Integration of PA to use its software to design SpaceLoft orbital launch vehicle	1st Malaysia astronaut to be announced from 2 finalists next week; will fly to ISS on 10 Oct with Expedition 16 crew
'10th Intl Mars Society Convention' wrapped up in Los Angeles CA recently; Buzz Aldrin, Elon Musk, others	'58th Intl Astronautical Congress' set for 24-28 Sep in Hyderabad, India; Prime Minister Singh inaugurates
NASA 'Discovery@15' conf on 18-20 Sep in Huntsville AL commemorates Lunar Prospector, other program missions	'ILEWG ICEUM 9 / 9th International Lunar Conference' takes place on 22-26 Oct in Sorrento, Italy; ASI, ESA sponsor