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Wednesday’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. U.S. and Russian astronauts Mike Hopkins, Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy prepare to lift off and dock with the International Space Station late Wednesday. U.S. space program an investment in science, technology and youthful inspiration, writes applied sciences veteran. Experts weigh contamination issues for astronauts returning to Earth from Mars. Curiosity rover finds new signs of past water on Mars. Mars spacecraft ready to snap photos of comet ISON as it slips past the red planet on Oct. 1. NASA seeks science proposals for 2020 Mars rover mission. Like other federal agencies, NASA awaits a decision from Congress on a stop gap U. S. budget measure. Russia recovers submerged fragments from Feb 15 meteor blast. SpaceX signals willingness to share Launch Complex 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center if awarded commercial use agreement. Smithsonian Institution places cancelled postal envelope from the moon on public display.
1. From NASA.gov: A three man U. S. and Russian crew is ready to launch to the International Space Station late Wednesday. NASA’s Mike Hopkins and Russians Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy are set to lift off at 4:58 p.m., EDT, for the station. Their “express” trajectory should lead to a docking at 10:47 p.m., EDT.
A. From AmericaSpace.com; Newcomers will join the space station’s Expedition’s 37, commander Fyodor Yurchikhin, of Russia; Luca Parmitano, of Italy; and NASA’s Karen Nyberg.
http://www.americaspace.com/?p=42925
B. Florida Today: NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins excited and a bit nervous as he prepares to lift off Wednesday at 4:58 p.m., EDT, with cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy. The three men are at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan where their Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft will lift off and then attempt to dock with the International Space Station at 10:47 p.m., EDT.
C. From Ria Novosti, of Russia: Russia’s state commissions grants formal approval for launch of new International Space Station crew members.
D. From NASA and the BBC: European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano discusses life aboard the International Space Station with the BBC.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrU_za2T1UI&list=PLiuUQ9asub3RHqKdK_XZSZ8I_981UPhvX&index=5
2. From the Hampton Roads Daily Press, of Virginia: U.S. human and robotic space programs offer the nation huge dividends, writes Joel Levine, research professor of applied sciences at the College of William and Mary after more than 40 years with the space agency. “An active program of robotic and human space exploration provides much more than scientific discovery,” he writes in an op-ed.
http://www.dailypress.com/news/opinion/dp-nws-oped-levine-0925-20130924,0,2078623.story
3. From Space.com: Experts in planetary protection protocols are already at work on plans to monitor the health of human explorers returning to Earth from Mars. Concerns over new germs are sure to rise. Cassie Conley, NASA’s planetary protection officer, discussed the concerns before NASA’s Future In Space Operations Group.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/22911-sick-mars-astronauts-earth-return.html
4. From Space.com: NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover finds new signs of past water on Mars. Curiosity is making its way to the base of Mount Sharpe a 3 1/2 mile high peak. Evidence of past water surfaced during a break in the drive to examine rocks at a site called Darwin.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/22927-mars-rover-curiosity-water-evidence.html
5. From Sky and Telescope Magazine: U. S. spacecraft on the surface of or in orbit around Mars are poised to snap photographs as Comet ISON on Oct. 1.
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/Comet-ISON-to-Fly-By-Mars-225022822.html
A. From Discovery.com: Some scientists express concerns that ISON and a second passing comet could damage spacecraft in orbit around or on Mars. The spacecraft include two rovers and three orbiting satellites.
http://news.discovery.com/space/comet-flybys-damage-mars-spacecraft-130924.htm
B. From Voice of America: Amateur astronomers snap photos of ISON.
http://www.voanews.com/content/isons-approach-documented-by-amateur-astronomers/1756181.html
6. From Space News: NASA seeks proposals for science investigations to be launched in 2020 aboard a Mars rover mission similar to the Curiosity lander that reached Gale Crater in August 2012.
7. From Spacepolitics.com: With no budget for the 2014 fiscal year in place, the federal government is looking to Congress to adopt a continuing resolution, or CR, to keep essential activities moving ahead. NASA is among federal agencies facing a shutdown if there is no CR.
8. From Ria Novosti, of Russia: New fragments from the meteor that exploded over remote regions of Russia on Feb. 15, are discovered at the bottom of Chebarkul Lake.
9. From Space News: SpaceX signals readiness to share use of Launch Complex 39-A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, if the company is selected by NASA for a commercial operations agreement. A competing bid from Blue Origin outlined a strategy to allow multiple commercial users to launch from the former shuttle launch pad.
http://www.spacenews.com/article/civil-space/37376spacex-changes-tune-on-lease-terms-for-shuttle-pad
10. From Collectspace.com: The envelope cancelled by the U. S. Postal Service on the moon went on display Sunday at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Postal Museum.
http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-092313a.html
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