In Today’s Deep Space Extra… The European Space Agency’s comet-stalking Rosetta mission heads to productive but impactful conclusion.

Space Science

Rosetta sent on collision course to surface of comet

Reuters (9/29): The European Space Agency’s groundbreaking Rosetta mission spacecraft was commanded late Thursday to descend and impact the surface of the comet 67P/Churyumov Gerasimenko to close out more than two years of close-up scrutiny. The Rosetta mission began its long journey with a March 2004 liftoff. Confirmation of the impact is expected between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m., EDT.

Science Channel to Pay Tribute to Rosetta Comet Mission Friday

Space.com (9/29): Science plans to air a program on the European Space Agency’s long Rosetta mission Friday night. The 10 p.m., EDT, broadcast will follow the spacecraft’s final hours as it crashes into the comet 67P/Churyumov Gerasimenko earlier in the day.

NASA’s Outbound Osiris-Rex asteroid sampler snaps first light images

Space.com (9/29): Successfully launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on Sept. 8, NASA’s Osiris-Rex asteroid sample return mission has cleared an instrument checkout and transmitted the first images from its camera suite back to Earth. The spacecraft is in the early stages of a seven-year, 4.4-billion-mile journey to collect a sample of asteroid dust and rock and return the materials to Earth in September 2023.

Deep Space Network glitches worry scientists

Science (9/29): Planetary scientists express concerns over the status of NASA’s Deep Space Network, the communications link between distant planetary missions and the Earth. Aging equipment and budget cuts may have jeopardized the network of large dish antennas in Spain, Australia and California, according to the report.

Low Earth Orbit

New-generation weather satellite nears November launch

Florida Today (9/29): GOES-R, scheduled for launching on Nov. 4 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., represents the first in a new generation of more capable weather satellites – spacecraft designed to improve hurricane tracking and severe weather prediction with higher resolution imagery and faster data transmissions.

Tour October’s Sky: Planets in Transition

Sky and Telescope (9/29): Soon after sunset, October sky observers can witness Saturn moving off stage, reddish Mars lingering low in the west and bright Venus ascending.

Commercial to Low Earth Orbit

Congress members question whether SpaceX should conduct its own investigation

Los Angeles (9/29): U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, of Colorado, leads a 10-member Congressional group that is challenging a U.S. regulatory policy that permits SpaceX to lead the investigation into the Sept. 1 launch pad explosion of a company-developed Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The lawmakers believe the policy raises “serious concerns about the authority provided to commercial providers and the protection of national space assets.” They conclude that NASA and the U.S. Air Force, both customers of SpaceX, should lead the ongoing inquiry into the blast that damaged an Air Force launch complex and destroyed an Israeli communications satellite.

United Nations to fly first space mission on Dream Chaser 

Space News (9/29): The United Nations will join with Sierra Nevada Corp. for the 2021 launch of the company’s reusable Dream Chaser launch vehicle. Dream Chaser will carry payloads from the world’s developing nations under an agreement with the U.N.’s Office of Space Affairs.

Space Florida CEO expects up to 200 launches per year

Orlando Sentinel (9/28): Florida can look forward to as many as 200 space launches annually as interest in commercial space grows, according to Frank DiBello, head of Space Florida, the state’s aerospace development agency.

Suborbital

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin plans dramatic rocket test flight on a big day for space

Geek Wire (9/29): Blue Origin plans a dramatic test of the launch abort system for its reusable New Shepard launch vehicle on Oct. 4, from West Texas. Blue Origin plans to launch passengers on the suborbital New Shepard.