In Today’s Deep Space Extra… NASA announces a launch delay for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to grant the U.S., European and Canadian space observatory the best chance for success with pre-launch testing. The five to ten year mission to study the earliest star systems and extra solar planets could get underway in 2020.

 

Human Space Exploration

White House: Protect Apollo moon landing sites, but treaties could lead to backlash

Collectspace.com (3/27): A report prepared by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy calls for voluntary efforts to preserve the six Apollo era landing sites on the moon, strategies not embedded in treaties or legislation that might discourage or inhibit future commercial activities. Some examination of lunar Apollo artifacts could be useful in assessing how hardware on the moon ages, according to the report.

Remembering Yuri Gagarin 50 years later

NASA.gov (3/27):  On Tuesday, NASA took note of the cosmonaut’s passing during a training mission.  Gagarin was the first human to travel in space, launched on April 12, 1961.

 

Space Science

Launch of NASA’s new flagship space telescope is delayed again

Coalition Member in the News – Northrop Grumman

Washington Post (3/27): Delays and cost increases faced by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have been necessary to improve the odds of mission success, NASA Acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot and other top agency managers explained Tuesday. The JWST is to unveil the earlier, most distant star systems and probe the atmospheres of distant extra solar plans for signs of bio markers. “Extensive testing is the only way to ensure the mission will succeed with high confidence,” Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA’s associate administrator for science, told a news briefing. “Simply put, we have one shot to get this right before going into space.”

Kepler beyond planets: Finding exploding stars

NASA (3/26): NASA’s Kepler space telescope, launched in 2009 and credited with the discovery of hundreds of extra solar planets, has also been assisting astronomers with observations of stellar explosions.

 

Other News

How to track China’s falling space lab

Quartz (3/27): Launched in 2011, China’s first space station, the 8 1/2 ton Tiangong 1, is expected to make an uncontrolled re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere within days. The Chinese and European space agencies and others are keeping track and sharing the status over the web.

Efforts underway to ease Florida’s Space Coast launch congestion

Space News (3/27): After a lull, Florida’s space launch business at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is rebounding, a welcome turnaround that is nonetheless causing some concerns over infrastructure and scheduling strains in the years