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Thursday’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. In Wallops Island, Va., the lift off of Orbital Science Corp’s Antares test mission is re-set for Friday evening after a technical problem surfaces in the final minutes of Wednesday’s launch attempt. New findings from NASA’s Kepler space telescope mission will be announced Thursday. NASA program management improves, according to a new U. S. General Accountability Office assessment. Lamar Smith, chair of the U. S. House Science, Space and Technology Committee calls for more vision, leadership in the nation’s civil space program. For Elon Musk, the SpaceX founder, innovation is a full time pursuit. CNES, the French space agency, tackles orbital debris.
1. From CBS News: Orbital Sciences looks to Friday, at the earliest, for the inaugural launch of the company’s Antares rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Virginia’s eastern shore. Wednesday’s countdown was halted 12 minutes from lift off. An umbilical on the rocket’s second stage fell away prematurely, prompting the decision to delay. Orbital Sciences seeks to join SpaceX as a U. S. commercial re-supply service for the International Space Station.
A. From Spaceflightnow.com: The website offers updates on the Orbital Sciences Antares countdown. The launch is re-targeted for no earlier than Friday at 5 p.m., EDT.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/antares/demo/status.html
B. From AmericaSpace.com: A launch pad umbilical separates from the Antares rocket prematurely, prompting a launch scrub.
http://www.americaspace.com/?p=34427
2. From Space.com: NASA schedules a news conference for Thursday to discuss the latest findings from the Kepler space telescope. The observatory was launched in 2009 to search for Earth-sized planets orbiting other stars in the Milky Way galaxy. The telescope has since spotted 2,700 prospective alien planets of all types.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/20711-kepler-exoplanet-discoveries-watch-live.html
3. From Spacepolicyonline.com: The U. S. Congressional watchdog, the General Accountability Office, finds that NASA has made major strides in reforming the lapses in program management that led to cost overruns and schedule slips for the James Webb Space Telescope.
http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/news/gao-applauds-nasa-progress-in-program-management
4. From The Houston Chronicle: In an op-ed, U. S. Rep. Lamar Smith, chairman of the U. S. House Science, Space and Technology Committee, calls for leadership and vision in the nation’s space program. A new direction must be responsive to the current budget climate, he notes.
http://www.chron.com/default/article/Smith-U-S-needs-vision-plan-to-reignite-space-4442631.php
5. From USA Today: Innovation is more than a full time job for Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, one of the companies that partnered with NASA to establish a commercial re-supply service for the International Space Station. Tesla, is Musk’s start up for electric automobiles.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/04/17/elon-musk-tesla-spacex-icon/2076641/
6. From Space News: The French space agency, CNES, launches two studies leading to the removal of orbital debris. The initiative is looking to a global commitment to wipe away projectiles that threaten satellites from all countries.
7. From Space.com: The liquid methane on Saturn’s moon Titan appears to be slowly vanishing, according to a new study. The loss will likely unfold over millions of years, according to a scientist from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/20706-saturn-moon-titan-methane-lakes.html
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