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Monday’s CSExtra presents the latest reporting on space-related events from across the globe, plus a roundup of weekend activities. Commercial space transportation services move quickly to occupy space at the Kennedy Space Center once filled by shuttle program operations. Scientists date Earthly bacteria to 3.4 billion years, raising prospects for Martian life. Distant Neptune moves into view through a telescope. The White House warns of coming reductions in spending at federal agencies, presumably including NASA. Could the cancelled Ares 1 play a role in NASA’s Space Launch System solution? Marking the 34th anniversary of NASA’s Voyager 2 launch. Watching Spaceport America blossom in the New Mexico desert. NASA’s annual Desert RATS campaign will simulate a mission to a near Earth asteroid this year near Flagstaff, Ariz. Nostalgia over the decommissioning of the shuttle orbiters. Trackers locate a European telecommunications satellite from an Aug. 18 failed Russian launch. NASA seeks nominees for key advisory boards. NASA astronaut Ron Garan hosts a robotics competition amongBoston area schools aboard the International Space Station.
1. From Space News, Aug. 19: Commercial launch services prepare to occupy Kennedy Space Center facilities once used by the shuttle program or retiring expendable rockets. SpaceX, with a $7 million grant from the State of Florida, is headed for Hangar AO, an enclosure once used by Delta II teams. SpaceX hopes to be launching one rocket a month by 2015. Soon, NASA is expected to announce commercial tenants for former shuttle infrastructure.
http://www.spacenews.com/venture_space/110819-fla-spaceports-commercial-operators.html
A. From Florida Today, Aug. 19: Technicians place the twin Grail spacecraft atop a Delta 2 rocket at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station The dual moon probes are slated for a Sept. 8 lift off. The Grail mission will probe the moon’s core and internal structure.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110819/NEWS02/108190315/Moon-spacecraft-set-atop-rocket-Cape-Canaveral?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Home|p
B. From Florida Today, Aug. 20: The Cape Canaveral Air Force Station initiates twice a week public tours of the historic launch complex. No charge.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110820/NEWS01/108200315/Tours-shine-light-Cape-s-heart-soul-?odyssey=nav|head
2. From Discovery.com, Aug. 21: Scientists find fossilized evidence for bacteria on Earth 3.4 billion years ago. They are the Earth’s oldest fossils. The findings by researchers at the Universityof Western Australia and Oxford note the Earth was without oxygen in that era, raising prospects for microbial life in the thin atmosphere on Mars.
http://news.discovery.com/space/microfossil-bacteria-oldest-earth-110821.html
3. From Space.com, Aug. 19: Distant Neptune has just completed its first circuit around the sun since the planet’s discovery in 1846. Neptune becomes visible with binoculars or a telescope. Space.com explains where to look.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/12684-spot-neptune-monday-observing-tips.html
4. From Spacepolitics.com, Aug. 19: The White House Office of Management and Budget alerts federal agencies to prepare Fiscal Year 2013 budgets that fall 5 to 10 percent below 2011 enacted appropriations. NASA received $18.45 billion in 2011. In the House, appropriators are currently working on a potential NASA budget of $16.8 billion for 2012.
http://www.spacepolitics.com/2011/08/19/another-round-of-belt-tightening/
5. From the Huntsville Times, Aug. 21: Might a return to the Ares 1 be a solution to debate over the Space Launch System heavy lift rocket that NASA was directed to develop under the 2010 NASA Authorization Act. That is the opinion of Scott Pace, director of the George Washington University Space Policy Institute and a former Washington space agency official. Mike Griffin, the former NASA administrator, suggests it is feasible.
http://blog.al.com/space-news/2011/08/is_the_answer_to_heavy-lift_ro.html
6. From NASAspaceflight.com, Aug. 19: NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft, launched 34-years ago Saturday on a four-year mission to Jupiter and Saturn, sails on. Voyager 2 is now probing the boundaries between the solar system and interstellar space.
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/08/thirty-four-years-voyager-2-continues-explore/
7. From the El Paso Times, Aug. 21: A look at the strides and the promise of Spaceport America, a suborbital commercial launch complex on the rise in southern New Mexico.
http://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_18725128
8. From NASAspaceflight.com, Aug. 21: NASA prepares for the agency’s annual Desert RATS campaign in Northern Arizona. This year engineers, astronauts and scientists will simulate a human mission to a near Earth asteroid. Low gravity conditions and communications delays will be factored into the activities near Flagstaff, Ariz.
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/08/desert-rats-field-tests-simulating-neo-and-mars-missions/
9. From Florida Today, Aug. 20: Columnist John Kelly acknowledges an uncomfortable fascination with the decommissioning of NASA orbiters Atlantis, Endeavour and Discovery and their preparation for display in museums in Florida, California and the Washington D. C. area.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110821/COLUMNISTS0405/108210316/John-Kelly-Preparing-next-chapter?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Space%20News
10. From Space.com, Aug. 19: A European telecommunications satellites launched Aug. 18 aboard a Russian Proton rocket is found in a much lower orbit than intended. The U. S. Space Surveillance Network identifies the spacecraft.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/12688-lost-russian-satellite-wrong-orbit.html
A. From China Daily: China records its first launch failure since 1996, with the Aug. 18 launch of an experimental satellite aboard a Long March II-C rocket. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2011-08/20/content_13154853.htm
11. From Spacepolicyonline.com, Aug. 19: NASA seeks nominations for positions on five advisory committees, including for operations of the National Laboratory elements of the International Space Station.
http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/pages/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1799:nasa-invites-nominations-for-advisory-committees&catid=67:news&Itemid=27
12. From The Boston Globe, Aug 21: Last week, International Space Station astronaut Ron Garan, of NASA, hosted the second annual Zero Robotics Summer Sphere Program, a contest for students exercising control over free-flying robots housed aboard the orbiting science laboratory. “Today we’re going to work with flying space robots, so that’s as cool as it gets,” Garan said before the competition started. “I hope it encourages you to continue studying science, engineering, and math, because that’s important to the future of our planet.” The spirited competition was sponsored by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts After School Partnership and NASA.
http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2011/08/21/winthrop_salem_middle_schoolers_get_a_long_distance_lesson_from_astronaut/?page=1
13. From Spacepolicyonline.com, Aug. 21: Space policy events scheduled for the week ahead.
http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/pages/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1804:events-of-interest-week-of-august-22-26-2011&catid=67:news&Itemid=27
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