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Tuesday’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from around the world. On Monday, NASA’s space station program manager raised the prospect of operating the six person International Space Station without a crew. That may happen in mid-November, if Russia has not been able to resolve the cause for the Aug. 24th loss of a Progress re-supply ship and carry out a recovery. Four NASA installations on the U. S. East Coast clean up after Hurricane Irene. What will it take to feed astronauts bound for Mars? Two commentaries assess the early lessons from Russia’s Progress 44 loss and the role of the private sector in advancing the exploration of deep space. John Shannon, NASA’s former shuttle program manager, takes on a new task — evaluating the agency’s future exploration options.
1. From the New York Times: NASA and its partners are looking at the prospect of de-staffing the International Space Station in mid-November if Russia has not identified and fixed a problem with the Soyuz rocket booster responsible for last Wednesday’s loss of a Progress re-supply capsule. However in order to keep the station staffed for as long as possible, the Sept. 8 return to Earth by three of the current crew will be postponed for a least a week, and the scheduled Sept. 21 launching of three replacement astronauts will be delayed as well. NASA supports a recovery strategy that includes two unmanned flights by an upgraded Soyuz booster before launches of astronauts on the Russian rockets resume.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/30/science/space/30nasa.html?_r=2&ref=science
A. From Spaceflightnow.com: NASA examines procedures and options for sustaining the International Space Station without a crew if Russia’s investigation into the Progress 44 failure and recovery is long running. Station managers are looking at mid-November for a possible de-staffing of the six person orbiting science laboratory.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/station/exp28/110829update/
B. From Itar-Tass of Russia: An airborne search for the wreckage of the Progress 44 capsule and third stage Soyuz booster continues in the mountainous Altai region of Siberia. Bad weather prevented aircraft from searching on Monday. The wreckage may hold clues to the Aug. 24 failure.
http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/214002.html
C. From Space News and Parabolicarc.com: In an essay, Doug Messier points out plenty of reasons for U. S. policy makers to be concerned about Russia’s Progress 44 launch failure. It’s time, writes Messier, for them to support the Russians in their recovery and rally behind efforts by NASA to nurture commercial cargo and crew launch services.
http://www.spacenews.com/commentaries/110824-blog-progress-failure-russian-problems.html
2. From Space.com: Four East Coast NASA installations clean up damage in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene. They include NASA’s Washington headquarters, the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland as well as the Wallops Flight Facility and Langley Research Center, both in Virginia.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/12773-nasa-centers-hurricane-irene-clean.html
3. From the Coalition for Space Exploration: Researchers examine what it would take to feed astronauts bound for Mars. They suggest it will be necessary for future explorers to grow some of their own food to lower the weight and cost of their pantry. The food has to be nutritious and taste good as well.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/blog/mars-menu-for-future-explorers-%e2%80%93-a-chow-down-challenge
4. Two commentaries from Monday’s The Space Review assess early lessons from the Progress 44 loss and a larger role for the private sector in deep space exploration.
A. In “Worrying about a Lack of Progress,” Space Review editor Jeff Foust makes an early evaluation of the Aug. 24 launch failure that thwarted a Russian Progress 44 re-supply capsule from reaching the International Space Station. In this case, the eminently successful Progress sustained an untimely failure that also impacts the Soyuz rockets used to launch multinational crews to the space station. The mishap points out the fragile nature of access to the orbiting lab — barely a month into NASA’s post shuttle era, Foust writes. It’s not your record for success, it’s the outcome of your most recent launch that counts.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1917/1
B. In “Exploration Initiatives for the Private Sector,” frequent contributor and space scientist Louis Friedman addresses what he describes as a lack of leadership in U. S. national space policy. Friedman finds an ally in Elon Musk, the SpaceX founder, who has a vision for using his company’s Dragon spacecraft as a Mars lander for future human as well as robotic exploration. He finds similar resonance in work by Lockheed Martin to flesh out a mission to an asteroid using the Orion/Multipurpose Crew Vehicle. Perhaps, a public/private partnership is part of a successful formula for future human deep space exploration, Friedman writes.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1916/1
5. From Spaceflightnow.com: NASA Administrator Charles Bolden asks John Shannon, NASA’s former space shuttle program manager, to examine NASA’s space exploration options, including a consultation with prospective international partners. Shannon is to complete his evaluation in the fall.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1108/29shannon/
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