To subscribe to CSExtra via RSS feed click here.
If you would prefer to receive CSExtra in e-mail format, e-mail us at Info@space.com with the word SUBSCRIBE in the subject line.
Tuesday’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. Rocket maker joins with NASA to explore cost savings for Space Launch System rocket designated to start U. S. explorers on new missions of deep space exploration. Orbital Sciences Cygnus resupply capsule will wait for Soyuz mission before second attempt to rendezvous with the International Space Station. Teen finds mentor in space station astronaut Luca Parmitano. Space exploration facing difficult legislative environment. Chinese official calls for peaceful uses of space. Moon grows younger. Astronomers baffled by quiet solar max. Observations suggest Milky Way’s central black hole exploded.
1. From Aviation Week & Space Technology: Working with NASA, Aerojet Rocketdyne introduces an array of measures to cut the cost of the J-2X, the upper stage for the Space Launch System. The J-2X is the upper stage for the powerful rocket that would start U. S. explores on news missions of deep space exploration.
http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/AW_09_23_2013_p56-616136.xml
A. From NASAspaceflight.com: Multiple Space Launch System rocket configurations undergo wind tunnel tests at U. S. locations.
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2013/09/wind-tunnel-environmental-conditions-sls/
2. From Space News: Orbital Sciences Cygnus capsule will wait until Saturday at the soonest for a second attempt to rendezvous and berth with the International Space Station. The wait will afford a Russian Soyuz with three U.S. and Russian crew members time to launch and dock with the station on Wednesday. Orbital’s first attempt to rendezvous on Sunday was waived off when a communications issue developed between the capsule and the space station. A second rendezvous attempt had been tentatively set for early Tuesday.
A. From the Associated Press via the Washington Post: Cygnus rendezvous difficulties attributed to inadvertent differences in GPS data sets. A “very simple fix” will remedy the issue, says Bruce Manners, NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Systems program executive.
B. From Space.com: Orbital Science’s Cygnus resupply vessel in good shape since Sept. 18 lift off and capable of waiting to make a second berthing attempt with the International Space Station.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/22904-private-cygnus-spacecraft-docking-delay.html
C. From NASA: Russia prepares to launch a three man crew to the International Space Station late Wednesday. NASA’s Mike Hopkins and Russia’s Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy have trained to replace Chris Cassidy, Pavel Vinogradov and Alexander Misurkin, who returned to Earth on Sept. 10, following 5 1/2 months in orbit. The Soyuz spacecraft carrying the three men is set to lift off at 4:48 p.m., EDT.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition37/index.html#.UkDx_tIwkQM
D. From the Baltimore Sun: Virginia’s Wallops Island no longer an obscure outpost for science, with two recent Orbital Sciences Corp launches, one a re-supply mission to the International Space Station, the other a lunar probe.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-wallops-20130922,0,6769846.story
3. From Universe Today: Teen finds mentor in International Space Station astronaut Luca Parmitano. Abigail Harrison and Parmitano share a social media collaboration.
4. Two essays from The Space Review examine the legislative environment surrounding future human space exploration decisions.
A. “When darkness falls: the future of the U. S. crewed spaceflight program,” examines NASA’s current standing in Congress. Essayist Roger Handberg, the University of Central Florida political scientist, finds an absence of a driving issue for lawmakers in the policy making.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2371/1
B. “Replacing the ISS (International Space Station),” finds the future of U.S. orbital space activities possibly escaping the notice of policy makers. The ISS has a defined technical life time, notes essayist Eric Hedman, a corporate chief technologist. What’s next in low Earth orbit?
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2369/1
5. From Space News: Extended operations of the International Space Station could be critical to the emergence of commercial space capabilities, writes Donald Robertson, an industry journalist who finds the orbiting lab a more favorable choice than spending on human deep space exploration.
http://www.spacenews.com/article/opinion/37352why-the-space-station-must-trump-exploration
6. From Xinhuanet, of China: Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao calls for peaceful uses of outer space at the opening ceremonies for the 64th International Astronautical Congress 2013 in Beijing. China is willing to share experiences with other countries in using space technologies to boost economic development, according to the vice president.
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90785/8407986.html
7. From the Los Angeles Times: New studies of lunar samples raise the prospect the moon is 100 million years younger than previously thought.
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-how-old-is-the-moon-20130923,0,4295431.story
8. From the New York Times: Scientists baffled by low key sun during Solar Max period of 11-year cycle.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/24/science/space/the-sun-that-did-not-roar.html?ref=science&_r=1&
9. From Discovery.com: Milky Way’s massive central black hole, 25,000 light years away, exploded two million years ago, say astronomers.
Brought to you by the Coalition for Space Exploration, CSExtra is a daily compilation of space industry news selected from hundreds of online media resources. The Coalition is not the author or reporter of any of the stories appearing in CSExtra and does not control and is not responsible for the content of any of these stories. The content available through CSExtra contains links to other websites and domains which are wholly independent of the Coalition, and the Coalition makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or authenticity of the information contained in any such site or domain and does not pre-screen or approve any content. The Coalition does not endorse or receive any type of compensation from the included media outlets and is not responsible or liable in any way for any content of CSExtra or for any loss, damage or injury incurred as a result of any content appearing in CSExtra. For information on the Coalition, visit www.space.com or contact us via e-mail at Info@space.com.
