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Monday’s CSExtra offers a roundup of space-related reporting and commentary from the weekend and the start of a new week. President Obama’s State of the Union address, set for Tuesday, has many speculating about NASA’s future as the Administration and Congress focus on the nation’s economic future. Some now suggest Congress when too far last year when it prescribed the elements of a new NASA heavy lift rocket for exploration. Others say the agency was short-sighted earlier this month, when it told Congress it could not meet the cost and schedule constraints for a new rocket. Mutual mistrust prevents U.S./China cooperation in space. European Space Agency member states agree to difficult budget increases to spur long term economic growth. SpaceX expresses an eagerness to make the Dragon capsule passenger ready. Friday will mark the 25th anniversary of the shuttle Challenger tragedy. Japan’s cargo laden Kounotori begins its journey to the International Space Station. Cosmonauts conduct a successful spacewalk. More announcements of Earth-like planets circling other stars expected next month.
1. From the New York Times, Jan. 22 — In a preview video of Tuesday’s State of the Union address, President Obama tells key backers that fostering a strong economy and jobs will be a key theme in his speech. NASA astronaut Mark Kelly, husband of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford, was invited to attend the address with First Lady Michelle Obama, but is unlikely to attend. Giffords is recovering in Houston from a wound received in Jan. 8 shooting spree at a political rally in Tucson.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/23/us/politics/23obama.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=NASA&st=cse
A. From the Washington Post, Jan. 24 — President’s Obama’s State of the Union strategy for economic growth should include government investments in research and technology, like those that fostered the Internet at DARPA and the computer industry through NASA, writes Fareed Zakaria in an op-ed.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/23/AR2011012302902.html
2. From the Orlando Sentinel, Jan. 22 — In an editorial, the Sentinel says Congress has jeopardized NASA’s future with its micromanagement. The Sentinel cites a failure by lawmakers to pass a budget that backs agreements reached with the White House in the NASA Authorization Act of 2010. The measure orchestrates a transition from the Constellation program to commercial space services and a news heavy lift rocket and multipurpose crew vehicle.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/os-ed-nasa-congress-clash-012211-20110121,0,4268861.story
A. From Florida Today, Jan. 23 — In an editorial, Florida Today says NASA placed its future in jeopardy by informing Congress earlier this month that it cannot meet the legislative cost and schedule markers for a new heavy lift rocket and multi purpose crew capsule. NASA must find a way to achieve the goals set by Congress and the White House of delivering operational spacecraft by the end of 2016.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110123/OPINION/110121032/1007/NEWS02/Our+Views++Heavy-lift+trouble+%28Jan.+23%29
B. From Spacepolitics.com, Jan. 21 — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s remarks at a ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of John Kennedy’s inauguration as President, suggest U.S. leadership in space is still crucial to the nation’s future.
http://www.spacepolitics.com/2011/01/21/reid-speaks-on-jfk-and-his-space-legacy/
C. Wayne Hales blog, Jan. 20 — Thoughts from NASA’s recently retired space shuttle program manager on the seemingly controversial choices NASA faces in a rocket design. National leaders need to converge on a plan, any good plan, and stick with it, Hale asserts.
http://waynehale.wordpress.com/2011/01/20/space-architecture/
D. From the Huntsville Times, Jan. 23 — Pressures to reduce federal spending have created stress for Alabama Republicans who support work on a new heavy lift rocket at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. Lots of attention has been focused on U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, who is credited for restrictions in a 2010 NASA appropriations measure that prevents NASA from making a transition from the previous administration’s Constellation Program to a new rocket strategy.
http://blog.al.com/space-news/2011/01/looming_nasa_funding_fight_cre.html
3. From the Washington Post, Jan. 22 — If the Obama Administration views space as a fertile area for cooperation with China, there is an underlying obstacle that can be summed up as a mutual mistrust. China’s rocket programs are controlled by the People’s Liberation Army, which is not inclined toward transparency. The U.S. enforces a ban on high tech exports to China. “For now, the U.S.-China relationship in space appears to mirror the one on Earth – a still-dominant but fading superpower facing a new and ambitious rival, with suspicion on both sides,” the Post reports.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/21/AR2011012104480.html
4. From Space News, Jan. 21 — Fourteen of the European Space Agency’s 18 member states agree to a budget increase — in spite of the near budget crisis some of them are facing. As a result, the 2011 budget will increase seven percent to the equivalent of $4 billion. Member states believe spending on space technology represents an investment in the future. ESA has agreed to pace 2011 spending to address liquidity issues faced by some of the members.
http://www.spacenews.com/civil/110121-esa-budget-rises.html
5. From the Los Angeles Times, Jan. 24 — SpaceX reveals its proposal to NASA to upgrade the company’s Falcon9rocket/Dragon capsule to carry up to seven astronauts to the space station. The company is competing for $200 million in NASA commercial crew development assistance by leveraging the success of a Dec. 8 unmanned demonstration flight. Dragon needs a launch abort system, environmental controls and seats for the next step, according to Elon Musk, who leads the SpaceX effort.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-spacex-20110124,0,921834.story
6. From the Orlando Sentinel, Jan. 23 — Friday marks the 25th anniversary of the Jan. 28, 1986 shuttle Challenger tragedy, a low point for NASA. The tragedy claimed seven lives and shattered public confidence in the space agency. Today, NASA’s safety culture has improved, as evidenced by the lengthy troubleshooting the agency has invested in the cracks that surfaced in Shuttle Discovery’s external fuel tank in early November.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/space/os-challenger-anniversary-remembrance20110123,0,274921.story
A. From the Coalition for Space Exploration, Jan. 23 — A look at the nation’s reaction to the Challenger tragedy, the sense of loss and grief. http://www.exploredeepspace.com/blog/challenger-tragedy-remembered-a-range-of-reactions-25-years-later
B. From the Associated Press via the Houston Chronicle and others, Jan. 24 –In her hometown of Concord, N.H., the memories of Christa McAuliffe, NASA’s Teacher-in-Space, have been slow to fade. McAuliffe perished aboard Challenger.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/7394460.html
C. From Florida Today, Jan. 23 — The newspaper looks back at Challenger. The families of the seven astronauts and the others close to the tragedy say the spirit of the astronaut lives on in their support for space science education.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110123/NEWS02/101230330/Astronauts-families-insist-focus-be-on-learning-not-loss
D. From the Gazette of Colorado Springs, Jan. 22 — USAF Brig. Gen. Rich Scobee recalls his father Dick Scobee, Challenger’s commander. Scobee is stationed near Colorado Springs, where his daughter attends Christa McAuliffe Elementary School. The school was named for the New Hampshire school teacher who was among Challenger’s fatalities. Scobee said the loss has shaped the way he treats the risks faced by those under his command.
http://www.gazette.com/articles/building-111622-rich-francis.html
E. From State of South Carolina, Jan. 23 — Family and friends recall Ron McNair, NASA astronaut, physicist and one of seven who perished aboard the shuttle Challenger on Jan. 28, 1986.
http://www.thestate.com/2011/01/23/1658880/the-challenger-disaster.html
7. From Spaceflightnow.com, Jan. 22 — Japan’s Kounotori cargo capsule begins a five-day journey to the International Space Station with 5.3 tons of supplies. The spacecraft was launched from the Tanegishima Space Center early Saturday.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/h2b/htv2/110122launch/
8. From Space.com, Jan. 21: Space station cosmonauts attached communications equipment and retrieved science experiments from the outside of the International Space Station during a five hour spacewalk on Friday.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/10653-space-station-russian-spacewalk-preview.html
9. From Florida Today, Jan. 21 — NASA will send shuttle Discovery back to the launch pad on Jan. 31. Discovery’s 11-day space station assembly mission has been on hold since a Nov. 5 launch scrub. NASA is in the homestretch of a lengthy troubleshooting into small cracks found on Discovery’s external fuel tank.
http://space.flatoday.net/2011/01/discoverys-return-to-launch-pad-planned.html
10. From USAToday, Jan. 23: NASA’s Kepler planet hunter recently provided evidence for the first rocky planet circling another star. Next month, astronomers connected to the mission will provide evidence for hundreds more next month.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/columnist/vergano/2011-01-23-exoplanet_N.htm
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