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What is the hush-hush intelligence project that apparently costs a fortune and has angered key Democratic senators?

The latest mystery in Washington espionage circles came to light in an unlikely venue: the floor of the U.S. Senate.
Tucked inside Congress' new blueprint for U.S. intelligence spending is a highly classified and expensive spy program that drew exceptional criticism from leading Democrats.

The SpaceTEC national center of excellence for aerospace technician training has entered into partnerships with two key federal agencies—the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL)—underscoring the importance of SpaceTEC’s mission to train the next generation of space industry workers.

BCC's Spaceport Center operates from the Center for Space Education at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. The two-year Associate Degree programs prepare graduates for entry-level positions in the aerospace industry, including both reusable spacecraft such as the Space Shuttle and expendable vehicles such as the Delta IV and Atlas V.

Can you imagine spending eight weeks in bed? ESA is looking for female volunteers who are prepared to do just that for a study taking place in Toulouse, France, from the end of February next year.

Industry lobbyists contended that space tourists must fly at their own risk, and that more stringent safety regulations would stifle innovation. The bill requires passengers to be informed of the risks involved, and the Federal Aviation Administration may issue regulations to protect the non-flying public's health and property and the country's national security and foreign policy interests.

In 30 years, a nuclear-powered space exploration mission to Neptune and its moons may begin to reveal some of our solar system's most elusive secrets about the formation of its planets -- and recently discovered ones that developed around other stars.

This vision of the future is the focus of a 12-month planning study conducted by a diverse team of experts led by Boeing Satellite Systems and funded by NASA. It is one of 15 "Vision Mission" studies intended to develop concepts in the United States' long-term space exploration plans.

A mission to investigate the origin and structure of Neptune --expected to launch between 2016 and 2018 and arrive around 2035 -- will increase scientists' understanding of diverse planetary formation in our solar system.

The plan is based on the availability of nuclear-electric propulsion technology under development in NASA's Project Prometheus. A traditional chemical rocket would launch the spacecraft out of Earth orbit. Then an electric propulsion system powered by a small nuclear fission reactor – a modified submarine-type technology -- would propel the spacecraft to its deep-space target. The propulsion system would generate thrust by expelling electrically charged particles called ions from its engines.