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Wednesday’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from cross the globe. Russia looks to a malfunctioning third stage gas generator as the cause of an Aug. 24 Soyuz rocket failure that prevented the latest Progress re-supply mission from reaching the International Space Station. The loss has the launchings of Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft on hold. Canada’s DEXTRE robotic handyman tackles its first repair task outside the International Space Station. NASA’s 14th annual Desert RATS campaign gets under way on the Black Point Lava Flow in Arizona. An interim report from the National Research Council urges NASA to invest more in the development of technologies that enable future human deep space exploration. NASA’s struggle to fund the James Webb Space Telescope and the Space Launch System, a new heavy lift rocket, may jeopardize smaller programs. NASA’s recently launched Jupiter-bound Juno probe snaps a picture of the Earth and moon. Boeing looks to a role in the development of a new heavy lift rocket. Cameras catch a bright meteor streaking over Atlanta this week.
1. From Spaceflightnow.com: The cause of Russia’s Aug. 24 Progress 44 launch failure appears to have been a third stage gas generator, according to statements from the Roscosmos, the Russian federal space agency. However, the Russian commission investigating the loss that has jeopardized future missions by astronauts to the International Space Station aboard Russian Soyuz rockets has not produced a formal report nor recommended corrective actions.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1108/30investigation/
A. From the Itar-Tass news agency of Russia: The search for debris from the Progress 44 mission loss in the Altai region of Siberia has so far failed to reveal wreckage.
http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/214954.html
2. From Florida Today: Aboard the International Space Station, the Canadian robot DEXTRE makes its first external repairs, changing out a failed circuit breaker. The two-armed robot carries out the repair in response to commands from NASA’s Mission Control, while the astronauts on board sleep. DEXTRE was launched to the station in March 2008. NASA and Canadian engineers believe future operations with DEXTRE will reduce the need for risky spacewalks by astronauts.
http://space.flatoday.net/2011/08/robot-swaps-faulty-breaker-at-station.html
3. From Space.com: NASA’s annual Desert RATS campaign gets under way on the Black Point Lava Flow in northern Arizona this week. The exercise involves dozens of engineers, scientists and astronauts, who are assessing habitats and mobile vehicles for deep space exploration. This year, they are testing hardware for a simulated mission to a near Earth asteroid.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/12780-nasa-asteroid-space-technology-desert-tests.html
4. From the National Journal: NASA’s capacity to develop new technologies, including the kind of breakthroughs to enable human deep space exploration is depleted, according to a new National Research Council report, that the space agency’s chief technologist largely agreed with. Political ambiguity over NASA’s future is undermining efforts to innovate, according to an NRC study panel.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/tech/nasa-s-technology-depleted-report-says-20110830
5. From the Orlando Sentinel: NASA’s annual budget could be shrinking, along with the spending plans of many federal agencies in response to the economy. In the meantime, the costs for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and the Space Launch System, a space observatory that is to succeed the Hubble Space Telescope and a new heavy lift rocket, are rising or uncertain. The changing financial landscape could jeopardize a range of smaller NASA programs, say Congressional insiders and legislative insiders. according to the Sentinel’s report.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/space/os-nasa-budget-worries-20110830,0,4410583.story
6. From the Coalition for Space Exploration: NASA’s Jupiter-bound Juno probe, launched Aug. 5, turns around to take a picture of the Earth and moon. The portrait is snapped from a distance of six million miles and offers no obvious hint of intelligent life.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/blog/nasas-jupiter-bound-juno-spacecraft-snags-earthmoon-photo
7. From Aerospace Daily/Aviation Week & Space Technology: A top Boeing company officials said the aerospace giant intends to compete for work on the Space Launch System, a NASA initiative to develop a new heavy lift rocket for human deep space exploration.
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=space&id=news/asd/2011/08/30/08.xml&headline=Boeing Plans For Next NASA Heavy-Lift Rocket
8. From Space.com: NASA’s all sky cameras in Georgia capture images of a bright meteor as it streaked over Atlanta on Sunday.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/12777-atlanta-meteor-fireball-nasa-video.html
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