Britain blocks extradition of alleged NASA hacker to U.S

BRITISH computer hacker’s decade-long struggle to avoid trial in the U.S. over alleged breaches of military and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) networks ended in success on Tuesday, as the UK government ruled he was unfit to face charges there.

Meanwhile, NASA in a statement made available to The Guardian from Washington DC said it had selected Earth Resources Technology, Inc., (ERT), Laurel, Md., to receive a contract for safety, environmental, and medical support services at the agency’s Ames Research Centre, Moffett Field, California The contract has a maximum value of $55 million.

This is a firm-fixed-price, time-and-materials indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity hybrid contract that begins on July 16, 2012. The contract consists of a two-year base period and three one-year options.

NASA is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation’s civilian space programme and for aeronautics and aerospace research. Since February 2006, NASA’s mission statement has been to “pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research.”