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Wednesday’s CSExtra offers the latest news and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. Public interest in the human exploration of Mars is on the rise, say participants in the Human2Mars Summit in Washington. The success of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is crucial to U.S. Mars exploration plans, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden tells Summit goers. Wipe away the negative, provide our youth with a dream, advises veteran astronaut Leroy Chiao. Virgin Galactic hires a retired top NASA astronaut as a new pilot. SpaceX signs on with Spaceport America in New Mexico for Grasshopper tests. Why is NASA’s planetary sciences budget on the decline?
1. From Space.com: “Interest in sending humans to space…has never been higher,” NASA Administrator Charles Bolden tells the Human2Mars Summit currently underway in Washington. The challenges, however, are technical, economic, political and scientific.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/20999-nasa-manned-mars-missions.html
A. From Space.com: Mars One, a Dutch initiative, touches a nerve with its nonprofit campaign to colonize Mars. Within two weeks of its start, a drive to enlist volunteers for a one way journey draws nearly 80,000 responses. Mars One proposes to begin the settlement with the launch of four explorers in 2023.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/21005-mars-one-colony-applications.html
B. From Discovery.com: NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spots strange looking patterns on Mars that suggest possible erosion by water or ice.
http://news.discovery.com/space/mystery-geology-mars-hirise-mro-130507.htm
C. From Collectspace.com: Apollo astronaut and author Buzz Aldrin releases his eighth book. In Mission to Mars, Aldrin explains his vision for human missions to the red planet.
http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-050713a.html
2. From Spacepolitics.com: The formula for reaching Mars with U. S. explorers begins with a successful execution of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden tells the Human2Mars Summit, which is wrapping up a three day program in Washington to explore the challenges and opportunities for reaching the red planet.
3. From Discovery.com: In an op-ed, former NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao ponders the rise of the negative and sensational on the national news front, often at the expense of the significant. “Let’s not let our future dreams be hijacked,” advises Chiao. “We owe our children and grandchildren a better legacy than that.”
http://news.discovery.com/space/history-of-space/astronaut-leroy-chiao-space-dreams-media-130507.htm
4. From Discovery.com: Retired NASA deputy chief astronaut Frederick C. J. Sturckow signs on as a pilot with Virgin Galactic, the emerging suborbital space passenger launch services company. As a four time shuttle commander and pilot, the retired U. S. Marine Corps aviator and test pilot was instrumental in the assembly of the International Space Station.
5. From Flightglobal.com: SpaceX agrees to a three year lease with Spaceport America in New Mexico to continue testing of the Grasshopper, the prototype for a reusable rocket. Early testing unfolded at SpaceX’s proving ground in McGregor, TX.
lhttp://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/spacex-grasshopper-moves-to-new-mexico-385575/
A. From The Brownsville Herald, of Texas: Hundreds attend a public hearing on the environmental impact of a possible SpaceX commercial launch complex in South Texas. Environmental impacts appear minimal, prospects for new jobs high.
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/local/article_58a99d36-b789-11e2-99f4-0019bb30f31a.html
6. From Space.com: In an op-ed, the Planetary Society questions planned reductions in funding for robotic NASA planetary missions.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/21007-how-to-save-planetary-exploration-op-ed.html
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