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Thursday’s CSExtra offers a roundup of the latest reporting and commentary on space related events from across the globe. Editorials raise concerns about the future of NASA’s human spaceflight endeavors. The Washington D. C. area witnesses a late night rocket launch from Wallops Island, Va. A photojournalist’s look at the men and women preparing orbiter Atlantis for the final shuttle flight. An Alabama congressman predicts a tough fight for NASA as lawmakers deal with budget deficits. The first satellite with a nuclear power source made its way into orbit a half century ago this week. A British company scores remote sensing work for China.
1. From Florida Today: In an editorial, the newspaper urges Washington policymakers to move forward with a plan to develop a new heavy lift rocket, called the Space Launch System, for future missions of human exploration. The process is mired in too much politics that could influence cost and scheduling. In the meantime, NASA’s long running shuttle program is coming to an end without a follow on initiative, according to the editorial. http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110630/OPINION/110629015/Our-views-Heavyweight-fight-June-30-?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Opinion|p
A. From the Huntsville Times: NASA must take its case to the public for support and funding as lawmakers deal with the nation’s deficits, an Alabama congressman tells the newspaper’s editorial board.
http://blog.al.com/breaking/2011/06/congressman_mo_brooks_says_nas.html
2. From Spaceflightnow.com: Orbital Sciences Corp. launches a Minotaur rocket late Wednesday with a military payload from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport of Wallops Island, Va.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/minotaur/ors1/index.html
3. From the Houston Chronicle: The Houston newspaper is previews NASA’s final shuttle mission in pictures. Atlantis is scheduled to lift off July 8 on a 12-day mission that will mark the end of the 30 year program. The 135th flight will deliver supplies to the International Space Station. A Chronicle photojournalist goes behind the scenes as Atlantis commander Chris Ferguson, pilot Doug Hurley and mission specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim prepare for flight.
http://blog.chron.com/finalmission/
A. From Discovery.com: The first NASA shuttle mission included a commander and pilot and carried more risk than space agency engineers realized. John Young and Robert Crippen lifted off on April 12, 1981 convinced their presence increased the likelihood of mission success. The mission risk was placed at 1/100,000. It was actually 1/9.
http://news.discovery.com/space/shuttle-launch-columbia-discovery-atlantis-endeavour-110629.html
B. From Space.com: NASA’s space shuttle has transported some unusual items into space over the program’s 30 year run. They include rocks from Mt. Everest, a Coke can and Buzz Lightyear.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/12120-weird-nasa-space-shuttles.html
4. From Science News: British astronomers probe a distant quasar that emits as much light as 60 trillion suns. The bright object, two billion times as massive as the sun, lurks nearly 13 billion light years from Earth. The quasar is a reflection of conditions in the early universe, and raises new questions about the formation of black holes.
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/331980/title/Most_distant_quasar_raises_questions
5. From the Coalition for Space Exploration: Wednesday marked the 50th anniversary of the first spacecraft test powered by a nuclear power source. The Transit IV-A satellites became part of a navigational constellation for ships and aircraft.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/blog/anniversary-of-the-first-nuclear-space-flight
6. From the BBC: A British company signs agreements with China to provide satellite imagery for land use studies.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13946179
Brought to you by the Coalition for Space Exploration, CSExtra is a daily compilation of space industry news selected from hundreds of online media resources. The Coalition is not the author or reporter of any of the stories appearing in CSExtra and does not control and is not responsible for the content of any of these stories. The content available through CSExtra contains links to other websites and domains which are wholly independent of the Coalition, and the Coalition makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or authenticity of the information contained in any such site or domain and does not pre-screen or approve any content. The Coalition does not endorse or receive any type of compensation from the included media outlets and is not responsible or liable in any way for any content of CSExtra or for any loss, damage or injury incurred as a result of any content appearing in CSExtra. For information on the Coalition, visit www.space.com or contact us via e-mail at Info@space.com.