Irene Klotz is Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, based in Cape Canaveral. Before joining Aviation Week in 2017, Irene spent 25 years as a wire service reporter covering human and robotic spaceflight, commercial space, astronomy, science and technology for Reuters and United Press International. She also worked with Discovery Communications, Discovery News and was a founding member of Space.com.
Irene cut her teeth on the space beat at Florida Today newspaper, a business writer enchanted by the colorful entrepreneurs who wanted access to Air Force launch facilities and assets after commercial payloads were taken off the space shuttles following the 1986 Challenger accident. Commercial space remains the focus of her work, along with a keen interest in the search for life beyond Earth.
A graduate of Northwestern University, Irene is the 2014 recipient of the Harry Kolcum Memorial News and Communications Award, named in honor of the late Aviation Week managing editor and Cape Canaveral senior editor who was among Irene’s earliest mentors.
JUNO ARRIVES: Juno, a Jupiter-bound science probe built for NASA by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, has arrived in Florida for launch preparations. The solar-powered probe is targeted for liftoff on Aug. 5 on board an Atlas 5 rocket. The cruise to Jupiter will take five years. Upon arrival, Juno is expected to enter an elliptical polar orbit for a year-long study to help answer questions about the planet’s formation, evolution and structure, including whether Jupiter has a solid core. Spacecraft processing is being handled by Astrotech in Titusville, Fla.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — NASA’s prime space shuttle contractor, United Space Alliance, told employees April 15 that half of them will need to find other jobs this summer. The official notification was long expected, as the shutdown of the 30-year-old shuttle program has been under way for several years. “We’re starting the process,” USA spokeswoman Kari Fluegel says. “We’ll take self-nominations [for layoffs] first, then determine who else needs to go.”
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — NASA planned to stop work on space shuttle Endeavour’s upcoming final mission as a government shutdown loomed Friday, but with padding in the processing schedule, a furlough would not necessarily affect the shuttle’s planned April 29 launch date. About 2,100 NASA employees and 10,200 contractors at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., would be affected by a government shutdown, says NASA spokesman Allard Beutel.
