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Friday’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from around the world. In Washington, the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee subpoena’s NASA’s work on the Space Launch System. The agency is not proceeding quickly enough with the development of a new heavy lift rocket, the oversight panel believes. NASA’s post-shuttle plans receive some editorial backing. An environmental scientist faces an investigation over polar bear claims. A pair of weekend meteor showers. Looking for tell tale signs of alien life from afar. Former NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak, who ran afoul of the law in connection with an Orlando, Florida confrontation in 2007, retires from the Navy.
1. From NASAwatch.com: Tired of waiting for a development plan, the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee issues a subpoena for NASA documents related to the Space Launch System. The SLS is the rocket propulsion source for future human deep space exploration. In the 2010 NASA Authorization Act, legislators directed NASA to have a new heavy lift rocket ready to operate by the end of 2016. Since January, NASA has sought more time to develop an affordable strategy, after noting for the record that a 2016 deadline cannot be met under the current budget and financial climate.
http://nasawatch.com/archives/2011/07/senate-issues-s.html
A. From Space News: NASA responds to the Senate subpoena with a defense for the agency’s protracted deliberations on the Space Launch System. The agency says the architecture for the SLS is too critical to the agency’s future to hasten a decision.
http://www.spacenews.com/civil/110728-senate-subpoena-orders-nasa-produce-sls-documents.html
B. From Spacepolicyonline.com: NASA’s most recent forecast for the SLS report was sometime in the fall.
http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/pages/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1745:senate-committee-subpoenas-nasa-sls-documents&catid=67:news&Itemid=27
C. From Spacepolitics.com and nasaspaceflight.com: Under restrained budgets, NASA looks at a 2017 test launch of the SLS with an un-piloted Orion/Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle on a circumlunar trajectory that would test the craft’s heat shielding and other design features. A crewed test would follow in 2021 with the same trajectory. The MPCV is the crew capsule companion to the new rocket for missions to destinations ranging from asteroids to Mars.
http://www.spacepolitics.com/2011/07/28/sls-report-and-another-poll/
2. From Florida Today: Reports of NASA’s demise are premature, according to a Florida Today editorial. The transition from government to commercial space transportation for cargo missions to the International Space Station is painful but not fatal, according to Florida Today.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110728/OPINION/110727017/Our-views-Boldly-pressing-July-28-?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Opinion|p.
A. From the Richmond Times-Dispatch of Virginia: In a brief editorial, the newspaper backs NASA’s post-shuttle strategy to explore beyond low Earth orbit.
http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/rtd-opinion/2011/jul/28/tdopin01-onward-and-upward-ar-1201220/
3. From the Associated Press via USA Today: A scientist with the U. S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management faces an investigation for possible scientific misconduct in connection with concerns he raised over polar bears and their fate based on climate change.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/environment/2011-07-28-polar-bear-scientist-investigation_n.htm
4. From Space.com: This weekend will bring two meteor showers, the Delta Aquarids and the Alpha Capricornids.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/12458-summer-meteor-showers-weekend-skywatching-tips.html
5. From Space.com: The chemical finger print of life on an alien planet might include indications of sulphur, water, methane and other compounds.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/12449-alien-planets-life-signs-sulfurous-molecules.html
A. From the Houston Chronicle: Opening this weekend, the feature film Cowboys & Aliens: This review finds the feature clever witty and grounded in costume and set. Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig highlight the cast.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/main/7674636.html
6. From the Orlando Sentinel: Lisa Nowak, the former NASA astronaut who confronted a romantic rival in Orlando in 2007, leaves the Navy with an “other than honorable” discharge. Nowak was sentenced to a year’s probation in the matter in 2009.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/os-lisa-nowak-discharged-from-navy-20110728,0,1478561.story
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