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Friday’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. Japan’s HTV-4 resupply capsule nears an early Friday rendezvous and berthing with the International Space Station. The National Research Council urges future support for the U. S. Landsat Earth imagery mission series and its focus on a changing Earth. Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, changing the world one industry at a time.  Curiosity rover’s birthday this week triggers a call for more NASA spending on planetary science. Competition for former NASA shuttle launch pads prompts debate over best use. Amateur astronomers grow concerned over youthful lack of interest. Checking in on Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo test flights. Engineers prepare 3-D printer for 2014 International Space Station mission. Europa beckons. Al Shepard’s every move watched as America’s first astronaut prepared for flight. Perseid meteor shower nears weekend peak. Science Fiction feature Elysium examines future economic divide.

 

1. From Spaceflightnow.com: Japan’s fourth resupply mission to the International Space Station by an H-II Transfer Vehicle, HTV-4, closes in on a rendezvous with the six person orbiting lab. NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg, posted before a control console for Canada’s robot arm, is sheduled to grab the 33 foot long capsule with its 3.6 tons of cargo on Friday at 7:29 a.m., EDT. Website offers updates.

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/h2b/htv4/status.html

2. From Ria Novosti: NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter opens its website to a Russian audience. English to Russian translations come from volunteers. U. S. and Russian ties on the International Space Station prompt the outreach.

http://en.rian.ru/science/20130808/182645722/NASA-Launches-New-Russian-Language-Mars-Website.html

3. From Spacepolicyonline.com: The National Research Council, a Congressionally chartered think tank, urges a sustained and enhanced U. S. initiative to support Landsat, a series of U.S. satellites focused on gathering and distributing imagery of the Earth for land and resource planning. The satellite series has juggled between too many federal agencies and in a constrained budget environment lacks the resources to continue beyond the current mission, the NRC finds.

http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/news/nrc-warns-landsat-not-sustainable-under-current-practices

4. From The Huffington Post:  Elon Musk, of SpaceX, and Jeff Bezos, of Amazon.com and Blue Origin, are changing the world one industry at a time. Bezos turns to newspaper publishing with purchase of Washington Post.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/beverly-macy/heres-how-jeff-bezos-and-_b_3722773.html?utm_hp_ref=nasa

A. From Reuters via The Orlando Sentinel: SpaceX secures agreement to launch two German radar satellites in 2018-19.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sns-rt-space-spacex-20130808,0,5523147.story?page=1

5. From The Los Angeles Daily News: California congressman Adam Schiff urges more funding for NASA’s planetary budget line as the U. S. marked the first anniversary of the Curiosity Mars landing earlier this week. Planetary science, a national “crown jewel” is unfairly in the budgetary cross hairs, writes Schiff in an op-ed.

http://www.dailynews.com/opinions/ci_23813609/at-anniversary-curiosity-landing-recommit-planetary-science-adam

6. From Space News:  In Florida, competing commercial interests in Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center forces NASA to sort through U. S. as well as proprietary interests.

http://www.spacenews.com/article/launch-report/36701blue-origin-wary-of-sharing-launch-pad-with-sls

7. From Sky & Telescope Magazine: Amateur astronomers reach out to youthful Americans. Across the U. S., astronomy clubs find their members graying.

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/Wanted-More-Young-Stargazers-218774471.html

8. From Parabolic Arc: Checking in with Virgin Galactic and the latest test flight activity over the Mojave in California.

http://www.parabolicarc.com/2013/08/08/spaceshiptwo-completes-glide-test-mojave-2/

9. From Space.com:  Prototype 3-D printer passes pre-launch testing at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. The printer is likely headed for the station in August 2014.

http://www.exploredeepspace.com/22301-3d-printer-space-station-tests.html

10. From The Christian Science Monitor: NASA draws experts together to prepare a blue print for a future mission to the Jovian moon, Europa. Past robotic probes revealed that Europa hosts an ice covered ocean, one that provide a habitable environment.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2013/0808/Is-it-habitable-NASA-outlines-big-goals-for-a-mission-to-Europa

11. From The Atlantic: The pre-launch trials of Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard, the second human in space.

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/08/13-little-things-nasa-did-to-get-alan-shepard-ready-for-space/278500/

12. From The Washington Post:  Just a reminder: the annual Perseid meteor shower peaks late Sunday, early Monday.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2013/08/08/zip-zoom-wow-perseid-meteors-to-dart-through-our-heavens-this-weekend/

13. From The New York Times: District 9 director Neill Blomkamp takes another cut at a gloomy future with actors Matt Damon and Jody Foster in a new feature film Elysium.  In 2154, the Earth has devolved on every front. The wealthiest and most powerful have retreated to Elysium, a space colony. Damon’s character, Max, rebels from below.

http://movies.nytimes.com/2013/08/09/movies/elysium-sends-matt-damon-into-a-dystopian-future.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

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