A woman from Costa Rica is the deputy project manager for a spacecraft that is expected to blast off Monday carrying a probe that will study the Martian atmosphere.

She is Sandra Cauffman, and the project is called MAVEN, the

Ms. Cauffman

Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission. Ms. Cauffman, was quoted saying she has worked for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for 24 years.  The space agency interviewed her for a news release, and she said "When I was seven years old and living in Costa Rica where I was born, I watched the Apollo 11 landing. Ever since, I always wanted to work for NASA. After working here 24 years, I have never had a day that I did not want to come to work." She works at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and her

job is to assist the project manager to keep the mission on track in terms of budget, schedule and technical requirements, she said.

"I have undergraduate degrees in physics and electrical engineering plus most of a third degree in industrial engineering," she said. "I also have a masters in electrical engineering. This gives me a unique background even for Goddard. My degrees help me understand both the science and engineering aspects of this mission."

NASA featured her in a video about the project in which she spoke Spanish.  The video is the first in a two-part Spanish-language series that aims to make MAVEN more accessible to Spanish-speaking communities, NASA said.

Ms. Cauffman is married with two sons. NASA said that she took her extended family to La Fortuna for Christmas.

"Almost everyone in our family went on the zip line, including my 74-year-old father-in-law," she said in the NASA interview.. "A zip line is a metal line that goes through the canopy from tree to tree at a few hundred feet above the ground. We also rode the Tarzan Swing, which is a swing several hundred feet above the tree canopy. It was scary, but once you were flying through the air it was lots of fun.

MAVEN is the first spacecraft devoted to exploring and understanding the Martian upper atmosphere.  It will orbit the planet in an elliptical orbit that allows it to pass through and sample the entire upper atmosphere on every orbit.  The spacecraft will investigate how the loss of Mars’ atmosphere to space determined the history of water on the surface.

The launch Monday is at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Complex 41 in Florida. The two-hour launch window extends from 1:28 to 3:28 p.m. eastern time, NASA said.


As expected protests snarled
traffic and blocked highways


A man trying to get to work in San José Monday characterized the traffic situation as a nightmare. The reason was another of those strikes and marches by unions.

Similar marches and blockades took place at multiple locations in Costa Rica. At midday, the traffic jam on Ruta 32 from San José to Guápiles and the Caribbean coast was reported to be seven kilometers long.

There were marches in Siquirres, Puntarenas and in the canton of Osa.

The reason varies, but Casa Presidencial had complaints of its own.   Carlos Ricardo Benavides, minister of the Presidencia, stood in for President Laura Chinchilla. He said although protesters have the right to vent their complaints they do not have a right to block traffic.

The litany of complaints are mainly economic. Motorcyclists gathered in front of the main building of the Instituto Nacional de Seguros to complain about the cost of obligatory insurance. The government has set the top rate at 80,000 colons, about $160.

The state insurance firm closed its doors to the public for several hours Monday due to the protest.

Later in the day the insurance firm announced an accord with the Comité Civico Naiconal de Motorcyclistas. The insurance institute would apply to the insurance regulator for a lower insurance rate based on 2011 amounts and it will try to establish a separate class for motorcycles with small motors. In addition, the institute would set up courses to help prevent motorcycle accidents.

Some motorcyclists have no respect for traffic laws, jump red lights, weave among cars and trucks and frequently drive at high speeds down the oncoming lane.

The motorcycle committee appears to be the only protesters who received some satisfaction. Casa Presidencial will try to dock the salaries of those public employees who participated in the strike and march.

Benavides expressed official displeasure that a strike by Limón dock workers caused a cruise ship captain to cancel a port call, thereby keeping 2,000 tourists from the Caribbean community.

The government acted early Monday to ease some of the metro area congestion caused by the protests. Two bailey bridges at the Circunvalación washout between Hatillo and Pavas were opened, one for east and one for west traffic. That was effective later in the day when traffic resembled a Sunday. Not only did the bridges help, but many individuals stayed home to keep an eye on children whose teachers were striking or for other reasons. So afternoon traffic was unusually light.

Ironically, some of the 20 unions that participated are those who are responsible for some of the complaints. Public employees are treated well, and that results in higher prices. One of the complaints was about gasoline that was more than $5 a U.S. gallon. The state petroleum monopoly, Refinadora Costarricense de Petróleo S.A.  has been criticized for highly favorable work contracts provided employees and the union. For example, the firm is obligated to provide vehicles to union leaders.

Most agree that the public work force is overstaffed.

A lot of the complaints are beyond the government's ability to solve mainly because it is broke and paying nearly 50 percent of its bills with borrowed money. Although some were protesting taxes, no firm proposals have yet been advanced this year by the finance ministry.


Auto import fraud alleged
against Heredia businessman


Prosecutors in Heredia have sought preventative detention against a body and paint shop owner who is accused of taking money on the pretext of importing vehicles for customers.

The Poder Judicial said that the man is the recipient of 12 complaints by individuals who gave him money with the belief that he would import vehicles from the United States. The amount involved is 61 million colons or about $122,000.

The man, who has the last name of Ramírez Bolaños, was detained at his Heredia home Monday, is accused of visiting a firm in Esparza on the pretext of importing vehicles for it.

He also is accused of accepting money for the same reason from customers of his paint and body shop. One car that was delivered  was damaged and did not resemble the description of the vehicle the customer sought, said the Poder Judicial.


Bolivian newspaper complains
of threats from local officials


The editor of a Bolivian newspaper says the publication and its reporter have been threatened.

The editor of El Deber, Pedro Rivero, reported the campaign of threats waged by the Santa Cruz de la Sierra municipal mayor’s office against his newspaper and its journalists. The Inter American Press Association said it would be paying special attention to how the threat develops because it involved instances of warnings by the city government against the paper for its editorial stance.

Rivero explained that the reaction of the mayor’s office started after reporter Pablo Ortiz’s piece published on Nov. 3 in the El Deber supplement Séptimo Día regarding the construction of municipal offices in parts of the city set aside for green zones which according to experts, would have serious consequences for the environment and the quality of life of inhabitants there.

In a letter addressed to Rivero dated Nov. 6 the local government demanded space equal to what it called “a capricious, biased, tendentious, ill-intended and bad faith statement.” It called for the reply to occupy the same space and length so as to deny what it regarded as “lying, ill-intentioned and libelous information.” It also warned that it would take out a libel suit against Ortiz and the newspaper.