Erik S. Lesser/European Pressphoto Agency The Falcon 9 rocket lifting off in Cape Canaveral, Fla., early Tuesday morning. CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A private cargo rocket bound for the International Space Station blasted off early Tuesday morning in what NASA hopes will mark an important step in handing routine space missions over to the private sector. With the brilliant glare of nine engines spewing out 1 million pounds of thrust, the rocket, a Falcon 9 built by Space Exploration Technologies Corporation of Hawthorne, Calif., or SpaceX, rose slowly off the launching pad at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station here, then arced upward into the night sky. “What a spectacular start,” the NASA administrator, Maj. Gen. Charles F. Bolden Jr., told reporters afterward. “It was ... Continue reading →

OECD: Spiraling Europe Crisis May Hurt World Economy SpaceX Launches Craft for Space Station in Second Attempt By Brendan McGarry - 2012-05-22T07:49:08Z A Space Exploration Technologies Corp. rocket lifted off today in the company’s second attempt to send the first commercial vehicle to the International Space Station. The closely held company, known as SpaceX and controlled by billionaire Elon Musk, launched the Falcon 9 rocket at 3:44 a.m. from Cape Canaveral, Florida. SpaceX will make history if its Dragon capsule docks at the station as scheduled on May 25, delivering more than 1,000 pounds of food, clothing and lab equipment. A successful mission may ease concern that turning the space program over to the private sector is too risky, according to Michael Ciarmoli, an analyst ... Continue reading →

CalSTRS to Vote 5.3m Shrs Against Entire Wal-Mart Board Fuel Economy Tops U.S. Auto Buyers’ Wants, Consumer Reports Says By Craig Trudell - 2012-05-22T10:00:00Z Automobile owners in the U.S. see fuel economy as the leading element they will consider in purchasing their next car, according to a survey by Consumer Reports. Of 1,702 car owners interviewed, 37 percent cited fuel economy as the top concern, the Yonkers, New York-based product tester and magazine publisher said in an e-mailed statement today. Quality was cited as the main reason by 17 percent of respondents, followed by safety at 16 percent and value at 14 percent. “These results make it clear that high fuel prices are continuing to impact driver behavior and influencing future purchase considerations,” Jeff Bartlett, ... Continue reading →

CalSTRS to Vote 5.3m Shrs Against Entire Wal-Mart Board Tesla Rises After Setting Delivery Date for Model S Sedan By Alan Ohnsman - 2012-05-22T14:51:45Z Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA), the electric-car maker led by Elon Musk, rose after the company said it will begin delivering the Model S sedan to customers on June 22. The shares gained 6.2 percent to $30.55 at 10:50 a.m. in New York, after rising as much as 8.9 percent, the biggest intraday increase since May 10. Tesla announced the start date today after saying earlier this month that deliveries would begin in June rather than July and that it has more than 10,000 orders for the battery-powered vehicle. The first customers will get their cars at a ceremony at Tesla’s Fremont, ... Continue reading →

CalSTRS to Vote 5.3m Shrs Against Entire Wal-Mart Board Honolulu Passes Los Angeles as Worst U.S. City for Drivers By Alan Ohnsman - 2012-05-22T04:01:00Z Honolulu, a vacation draw for its beaches and weather, was the most-congested U.S. city in 2011, dethroning Los Angeles, an Inrix Inc. study found. Drivers in the city, the state of Hawaii’s largest, wasted an average of 58 hours stuck in traffic last year, compared with 56 hours in Los Angeles, according the Inrix National Traffic Scorecard, released today. Honolulu jumped to No. 1, from No. 37 a year earlier, because of a change in the way Inrix counted congestion, said Jim Bak, co-author. “We’ve shifted to focus on travel time for individual drivers, rather than overall congestion,” Bak said in ... Continue reading →

Enlarge image Pentagon, Congress Disagree on the Price of U.S. Military A U.S. soldier stands next to a line of military vehicles during a ceremony on the outskirts of Kabul. Photo: Massoud Hossaini/AFP via Getty Images A U.S. soldier stands next to a line of military vehicles during a ceremony on the outskirts of Kabul. Photo: Massoud Hossaini/AFP via Getty Images Republicans and President Barack Obama are squaring off again over federal spending, only this time the president wants to cut it and the Republicans want to increase it. As a Senate committee begins work today on a bill authorizing next year’s military budget, White House officials have threatened a veto of anything resembling a measure passed by the House last week that would add ... Continue reading →

SpaceX The Dragon capsule, developed and built by Hawthorne-based SpaceX. On Saturday, it will be launched in the first-ever private mission to service the International Space Station. Just for sake of argument, let's say Facebook's highly touted IPO was a flop, priced at $38 a share and closing just 23 cents above that figure. There's another California company that's staging a big event this weekend, and it has nothing to do with Wall Street. It may wind up being remembered for far longer. On Saturday, before dawn at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the L.A.-area's own SpaceX will launch a rocket tipped with a capsule designed to perform a service mission for the International Space Station. This marks this first time a private company ... Continue reading →

Nissan Boosts U.S. Altima Capacity to Challenge Toyota By Alan Ohnsman - Wed May 16 18:20:25 GMT 2012 May 14 (Bloomberg) -- Nissan Motor Co. Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn talks about the company's business strategy and growth outlook. Ghosn, who is also CEO of Renault SA, also discusses a plan by the Renault-Nissan alliance to form a joint venture with Russian Technologies Corp. to become the largest shareholder in OAO AvtoVAZ, Russia’s biggest automaker. Ghosn spoke with Bloomberg's Anna Mukai at Nissan's headquarters in Yokohama, Japan, on May 11. (Source: Bloomberg) Nissan Motor Co. (7201) said it plans to run three daily assembly shifts at U.S. plants building a revamped Altima, as the company tries to challenge Toyota Motor Corp. (7203)’s Camry, the top-selling ... Continue reading →

Tesla to Begin Repaying U.S. Loans by End of 2012 By Alan Ohnsman - Fri May 11 19:28:48 GMT 2012 Enlarge image Tesla to Begin Repaying U.S. Electric-Car Loans David Paul Morris/Bloomberg Tesla Motor Inc. associates work on the Model S electric car at the company's factory in Fremont, California. Tesla Motor Inc. associates work on the Model S electric car at the company's factory in Fremont, California. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA), the electric-car company led by Elon Musk, is using the last of its $465 million in U.S. loans and plans to start repaying them by the end of the year, the first startup to fulfill requirements of the criticized program. The maker of Roadster sports cars had $104.5 million ... Continue reading →