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Friday’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from around the world. SpaceX and the company’s bid to begin the first U. S. commercial re-supply mission to the International Space Station this weekend will be closely watched. Lift off is scheduled for Saturday at 4:55 a.m., EDT. NASA’s WISE mission finds hundreds of asteroids that could pose a collision hazard to the Earth. How to watch this weekend’s partial solar eclipse. Globally, three satellites are launched over a five hour span. The White House and Congress differ over a “Space Code of Conduct.” Establishing a mailing address for the International Space Station. NASA means billions for Alabama.
1. From the Wall Street Journal: A look at the reasons underpinning NASA fostered commercial cargo and crew space transportation services. Is the motivation to accelerate and lower the cost of efforts to develop a shuttle replacement or to stimulate the economy? NASA’s advisers urge the agency to focus on the fundamentals, of sound engineering and performance. Lift off is scheduled for Saturday at 4:55 a.m., EDT.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303879604577410183399805046.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
A. From the New York Times: SpaceX founder Elon Musk ponders the chances the Dragon mission will succeed. The spacecraft’s cargo includes 15 student experiments sponsored by the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education, including one that will examine the wine fermenting process.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/18/science/space/spacex-is-set-to-send-its-rocket-to-the-space-station.html?_r=2&ref=science
B. From National Public Radio: The upcoming SpaceX mission to the International Space Station promises to usher in a new era of commercial spaceflight. The ISS is just one of the envisioned destinations, according to experts.
http://www.npr.org/2012/05/18/152953776/nasa-spacex-aim-to-launch-private-era-in-orbit
C. From the Christian Science Monitor: While SpaceX bids to become the first U.S. commercial re-supplier to reach the International Space Station, there are five other U. S. companies at work on private sector launch services. NASA has committed nearly $4 billion to the private sector effort so far. The Monitor profiles each.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2012/0517/Beyond-SpaceX-Five-companies-seeking-to-change-space-travel/Space-Exploration-Technologies-Corporation-SpaceX
D. From the Orlando Sentinel: A look at the bid by SpaceX to become the first U. S. commercial re-supply mission to the International Space Station. The mission is a test of the Obama administration space policy, the Sentinel reports.
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-05-17/news/os-spacex-launch-advance-20120517_1_dragon-capsule-alan-lindenmoyer-spacex
E. From the Associated Press via the Washington Post: The SpaceX mission signals a new way of doing business at NASA.
2. From MSNBC and the Cosmic Log: The website offers a primer on viewing this weekend’s partial solar eclipse. For many, the Internet may offer the best, perhaps safest option. Outside, the best viewing in the U.S. will extend along a strip from the California/Oregon border to west Texas.
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/18/11746807-how-to-see-the-eclipse-anywhere?lite
3. From Space.com: NASA’s WISE infrared space telescope aides in a census count of asteroids that may pose a collision threat to the Earth. The count grows to 4,700 of the planetary bodies.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/15734-dangerous-asteroid-census-nasa-telescope.html
A. From National Geographic: In Spain, astronomers discover an asteroid that is on a course to pass close to the Earth on Feb. 15, 2013. Asteroid 2012 DA14 is about 150 feet across and appears likely to zip past close enough to damage an orbiting satellite, say experts.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/05/120517-asteroid-close-earth-satellites-danger-space-science/
4. From Spaceflightnow.com: Russia launches a Soyuz rocket with a military reconnaissance spy satellite, Kosmos 2472. Globally, three satellites were launched within a five hour span.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1205/17soyuz/
A. From the Wall Street Journal: Japan reaches a milestone in the country’s pursuit of global commercial space revenues, with the launch of its first non-domestic payload. On Friday, a Japanese H-2A launch sends aloft a South Korean Earth observing satellite.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303879604577409933903286576.html
B. From Itar-Tass of Russia: A Russian Proton rocket carries a Canadian communications satellite into orbit.
http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/423356.html
5. From Spacepolitics.com: The White House and Congress find themselves at odds over the wording of a proposed space “Code of Conduct.”
6. From Popular Science: International Space Station resident Don Pettit claims a U. S. Postal Service mailing address aboard the orbiting science laboratory.
http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2012-05/astronaut-don-pettit-creates-first-mailing-address-space
7. From The Huntsville Times: NASA’s economic impact across Alabama is gauged at $2.8 billion in 2011.
http://blog.al.com/space-news/2012/05/nasas_economic_impact_in_alaba.html
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