In his weekly radio address President Bush said, “Today I am signing emergency legislation to fund the Federal government for the next seven weeks. This legislation was necessary because Congress failed in its most basic responsibility: to pass the spending bills that fund the day-to-day operations of the government. There are 12 of these bills this year, and Congress did not complete a single one of them, so Congress had to send me a stop-gap measure before the fiscal year ends this Sunday at midnight.”

In his weekly radio address President Bush said, “In just eight days, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program — or “SCHIP” — is set to expire. This important program helps children whose families cannot afford private health insurance, but who do not qualify for Medicaid, to get the coverage they need. I strongly supported SCHIP as a governor, and have strongly supported it as President. My 2008 budget proposed to increase SCHIP funding by $5 billion over five years, a 20 percent increase over current funding.”

A 15 September meteorite strike in Peru highlights the need to expand scientists’ understanding of asteroids, meteoroids and other NEO, or Near-Earth Objects. Scientists still don’t know the precise composition of asteroids, for example, making any attempt to deflect one aimed at the Earth highly problematic. ESA’s Rosetta ‘comet-chasing’ mission, now en route to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, will be the first to undertake the long-term exploration of a comet from close quarters and includes the deployment of a landing probe. Don Quijote is a precursor mission, designed to assess and validate the technology that one day could be used to deflect an asteroid threatening the Earth.
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In his weekly radio address President Bush said, “The success of a free Iraq is critical to the security of the United States. If we were to be driven out of Iraq, extremists of all strains would be emboldened. Al Qaeda could find new recruits and new sanctuaries. And a failed Iraq could increase the likelihood that our forces would someday have to return — and confront extremists even more entrenched and even more deadly. By contrast, a free Iraq will deny al Qaeda a safe haven. It will counter the destructive ambitions of Iran. And it will serve as a partner in the fight against terrorism.”

In only a few weeks time, Italian ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli will join six NASA astronauts on board Space Shuttle Discovery to fly to the International Space Station (ISS). Their task is a challenging one. The Esperia Mission is responsible for the safe delivery and attachment of the ESA financed Node 2 connecting module to the ISS, an essential step for the Station to be able to receive the European Columbus laboratory with the next Shuttle flight in December 2007. In his role as a Mission Specialist, Paolo Nespoli is going to coordinate three spacewalks and carry out a programme of scientific experiments created jointly by the European and the Italian space agencies on top of other communication and educational activities.
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