To subscribe to CSExtra via RSS feed click here.
If you would prefer to receive CSExtra in e-mail format, e-mail us at Info@space.com with the word SUBSCRIBE in the subject line.
Thursday’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting on NASA’s future from Washington, where the House passed the Senate’s compromise version of a NASA authorization bill just before midnight. The three-year measure, which President Obama is expected to sign, sets NASA on a long term course of human exploration beyond low Earth orbit. Travel to orbital destinations will be delegated to the NASA-sponsored development of commercial space transportation systems. Plus, astronomers announce the first discovery of an Earth-like planet in the habitable zone around another star. Life may be flourishing there, say some experts.
1. From Spacepolitics.com: The House passes the Senate’s version of a 2010 NASA authorization bill by a 304 to 118 margin, more than the two-thirds needed under a suspension of the rules. Key sponsors from the House Science and Technology Committee urge passage of the bill, while characterizing the measure as not perfect. Gabrielle Giffords, chair of the House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee, however, colleagues to reject the bill as too flawed.
http://www.spacepolitics.com/2010/09/29/the-debate-over-the-nasa-bill-and-now-the-wait/
A. From Spacepolicyonline.com: Giffords calls the Senate measure “budget busting.” Her concerns include a lack of funding for an additional 2011 space shuttle mission.
http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/pages/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1145:house-concludes-debate-on-nasa-authorization-vote-pending&catid=67:news&Itemid=27
B. From the Wall Street Journal: Passage of the Senate measure sets NASA on a new course that could save jobs in Texas, Alabama, Florida and California by spelling out requirements for a new heavy lift rocket and human spacecraft to succeed the space shuttle for missions beyond Earth orbit. The measure includes funding for the NASA sponsored development of commercial space taxis that can transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704116004575522770134156424.html?KEYWORDS=NASA
C. From the Houston Chronicle: The United States formally abandons decades of planning to return humans to the moon in favor of a more distant goal of reaching Mars and other deep space destinations. While the Constellation Program faces termination, elements of the strategy survive for missions to asteroids and the Red Planet.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/7224649.html
D. From the Orland Sentinel: President Obama expected to sign the bill into law, ending months of debate over NASA’s future.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/os-new-nasa-policy-house-vote-20100929,0,6071990.story
E. From the Huntsville Times: In a statement issued Wednesday before House passage of the Senate measure, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden calls the bill’s passage historic, and one that will set NASA on a sustainable and inspiring path.
http://blog.al.com/space-news/2010/09/nasas_bolden_says_house_poised.html
F. From Florida Today: For many lawmakers, there was no other alternative, Florida lawmakers tell the newspaper.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20100930/NEWS02/9300325/House+signs+off+on+NASA+policy
G. From the Ogden Standard Examiner of Utah: Passage of the Senate measure calls for future heavy lift rocket development, which could mean jobs for Utah’s solid rocket development industry.
http://www.standard.net/topics/business/2010/09/29/atk-bill-passes-congress
2. From the New York Times: Congress passes a Continuing Resolution, or stop gap spending measure to keep the federal government operating through Dec. 3, before adjourning for the November elections. The action tides many agencies, including NASA, over beyond the Oct. 1 start of the 2011 fiscal year. The move tosses future budget considerations this year to a lame duck Congress.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/30/us/politics/30cong.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=NASA&st=cse
3. From Discovery.com: Astronomers have discovered the first Earth-like planet in the habitable zone of another star. The planet, three times the mass of the Earth, circles Gliese 581g that is 20 light years away. Steven Vogt, of the University of California, Santa Clara, and Paul Butler, of the Carnegie Institution in Washington, lead the discovery team.
http://news.discovery.com/space/earth-like-planet-life.html
A. From Wired.com: New Goldilocks planet is large enough to host a substantial atmosphere, liquid water, say astronomers.
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/09/real-habitable-exoplanet/
B. From Space.com: Odds of life on the new planet are 100 percent, say scientists including co-discoverer Steven Vogt.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/scienceastronomy/earth-like-exoplanet-possibly-habitable-100929.html
4. From Spaceflightnow.com: European Space Agency officials discuss plans to make their unmanned Automated Transfer Vehicle into a two-way cargo carrier to the International Space Station. The advance could pave the way for a human transport to and from the orbiting science laboratory.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1009/29arv/
5. From the Washington Post and Discovery.com: Australians recover film of Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong climbing down the ladder of the Eagle lander to the surface during the historic 1969 moon landing. The film, obtained from a NASA ground station, is to be aired in ceremonies next week.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/blog-post/2010/09/moon_landing_long_lost_footage.html
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.