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Today’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. At a critical junction, the U.S. space program should focus on the human exploration of Mars, according to two former high ranking NASA officials. Planners are reaching a consensus on a NASA mission to Mars in the 2030s, according to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. The first human Mars mission should be orbital to constrain costs, according to the Planetary Society. NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter lowered its altitude this week for a closer look at the moon’s South Pole. Dubai outlined the first Arab Mars mission on Wednesday. Saturn’s moon Enceladus sports curtains of water and ice, say scientists. The out of control Russian Progress 59 cargo capsule is forecast to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere on Friday, possibly Thursday.  NASA announced the selection of a materials science experiment for the upcoming U.S. Air Force X-37B mission. The USAF X-37B launch will carry the Planetary Society’s Light Sail-1 demonstration. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden defended Earth Science spending at a Washington space conference this week.

Human Deep Space Exploration

America’s journey to Mars: The time is now | commentary

Roll Call (5/6): America is at a critical junction in its human space exploration planning. Political support has never been more critical, write Doug Cooke and Dan Dumbacher, two former high level NASA executives, in an op-ed.  The Space Launch System heavy lift rocket, Orion crew exploration capsule and activities aboard the International Space Station are key to achieving a human mission to Mars, they write.

Road map for manned missions to Mars reaching ‘consensus’ NASA chief says

Space.com (5/6): A supportive consensus is forming around NASA’s road map for the human exploration of Mars, according to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden in remarks this week before the Human 2 Mars summit in Washington. The course includes the proposed Asteroid Redirect Mission, which would test technologies for the Mars voyage by retrieving a boulder from a large asteroid and steering it into orbit around the moon.  The road map is affordable and sustainable, said Bolden.

Opinion: We can afford to go to Mars here’s how

National Geographic (5/6): Astronauts should be launched on an orbital mission to Mars prior to a mission that attempts the first landing, according to an op-ed from members of the Planetary Society. The plan developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, could mean a stop at one of the Martian moons, however. Current budgeting would permit a launching in 2033, according to the assessment.

Unmanned Deep Space Exploration

NASA’s LRO moves closer to Moon’s mysterious South Pole

Astronomy Now (5/6): NASA lowers the altitude of its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to take a closer look at the moon’s South Pole.  Polar craters are believed to harbor water ice deposits. LRO, launched in 2009, is constructing a map of the moon’s topography and studying its resources.

Dubai ruler unveils details of first Arab mission to Mars

Arabian Business.com (5/7): In Dubai on Wednesday, officials announce the first Arab mission to Mars. Planned for a 2020 launching, the Hope mission spacecraft will be developed for studies of the Martian atmosphere. After a 200 day journey, the spacecraft will carry out its studies from orbit through 2023 and perhaps through 2025.

Jets’ on Saturn moon Enceladus may actually be giant walls of vapor and ice

Space.com (5/6): Scientists now believe it’s unlikely that discreet water geysers are erupting from Saturn’s moon Enceladus. Instead, they believe the watery moon is ejecting curtains of moisture and ice.

Low Earth Orbit

Doomed Russian spacecraft is falling from space, but where will it fall?

Space.com (5/6): The victim of a botched April 28 Russian launching, the Progress 59 resupply mission spacecraft is forecast to make an uncontrolled re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere as early as Thursday, or Friday — more or less. Where and whether any fragments will reach the Earth’s surface remain unknown.

Failed Russian spacecraft expected to burn up Friday

Reuters (5/6): U.S. and Russian forecasts point to a Progress 59 re-entry on Friday. The Russian space freighter launched with more than three tons of supplies for the six person International Space Station.

NASA gives more information on its experiment aboard the X-37B

Spaceflightnow.com (5/6): NASA will fly a materials exposure experiment aboard the next U.S. Air Force X-37B mission, the space agency announced on Wednesday. The launching is set for May 20. The fourth flight of a reusable X-37B would expose about 100 samples to the space environment for about 200 days.

Bill Nye is testing a spaceship that rides on sunbeams

The Verge (5/7): The Planetary Society sponsored Light Sail-1 mission will ride along with the X-37B launching, currently planned for May 20 from Cape Canaveral, Fla. Flying as a secondary, Light Sail-1 will attempt to demonstrate the deployment of a small light sail, a technology for using sunlight as an interplanetary space propulsion source.

Bolden bashes authorization bill again, marks Earth as NASA territory

Space News (5/6): In Washington remarks Tuesday, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden expressed opposition to a 2016-17 authorization measure pending in the U.S. House that calls for a shift in funds from NASA Earth sciences programs to human exploration and planetary science missions. His remarks were made during a Women in Aerospace Conference.

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