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Today’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. In Washington, NASA’s administrator, ranking Congressman differ over proposed Mars human flyby mission. Space Launch System heavy lift rocket avionics tested. Mini robot in development as surgeon for deep space missions. ABC delays Astronauts Wives Club debut. President Clinton checked out evidence for space aliens. Saturn’s moon Enceladus hosts subsurface ocean. Mars moons could become destination for future unmanned probe. NASA lunar orbiter collects extra data before April 21 impact. White House, NASA pressed to clarify Russian sanctions over Ukraine. Space Station maneuvers to avoid collision with space debris. Europe launches first in Copernicus series of Earth observing satellites. Pentagon mulls U.S. substitute for Russian rocket engine. U.S. military weather satellite launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. Noted test pilot changes jobs in California’s Mojave Desert.
Human Deep Space Exploration
Bolden, Smith clash over Mars 2021 and ARM
Spacepolitics.com (4/3): In Washington, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, who chairs the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, differ Thursday over the merits of Inspiration Mars, a proposed human flyby of the red planet. Bolden discounts the value of a flyby in eventually reaching the Martian surface with humans. Smith believes a flyby would provide a worthwhile test of the new NASA Space Launch System heavy lift rocket. NASA’s proposed Asteroid Redirect Mission has failed to inspire, Smith countered.
Prepare to launch: ATK runs tests on new NASA booster
Deseret News (4/3): Avionics for NASA’s Space Launch System heavy lift rocket undergo simulated launch evaluation. The new SLS will start future U.S. explorers on missions of deep space exploration.
Mini robot space surgeon to climb inside astronauts
New Scientist (4/1): Small robot scheduled for evaluation in zero gravity research flights could become trauma surgeon for astronauts far from Earth.
ABC summer series ‘Astronaut Wives Club’ pushed to midseason, to undergo change
Deadline Hollywood (4/2): Creative changes under way as series based on book of the same name to miss mid-summer premier.
Bill Clinton wouldn’t be surprised if aliens exist
ABC News (4/3): As president, Bill Clinton checked on evidence for alien visits
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
Hidden ocean found on Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus, could potentially support life
Space.com: (4/3): Enceladus becomes the latest outer planet moon with evidence of a subsurface ocean, according to scientists who report in the journal Nature. Enceladus circles Saturn. NASA’s Cassini spacecraft is credited with the finding. And like Jupiter’s Europa, Enceladus may have conditions suitable for life.
NASA Cassini spacecraft finds sign of subsurface sea on Saturn’s moon Enceladus
Washington Post (4/3): Regional lake with rocky lake bed lurks below moon’s south pole.
NASA targets moons of Mars for potential robotic mission
Space.com (4/3): NASA’s Ames Research Center mulls unmanned mission to one of the Martian moons, Phobos or Deimos. Possibly captured asteroids, the small moons could be destinations for future human missions as part of a Mars exploration strategy.
NASA satellite to continue gathering data up to planned lunar impact
NASA (4/3): NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft, launched in September, is expected to conclude its mission with an impact on the moon’s far side around April 21.
Low Earth Orbit
White House, NASA seek to clarify U.S.-Russian space cooperation status
Spacepolicyonline.com (4/3): White House, NASA strive Thursday to clarify a policy statement severing bilateral cooperation with Russia, with the exception of the International Space Station. The policy linked to U.S. and Russian tensions over Ukraine was disclosed on Wednesday.
Space station sidesteps space junk again
Associated Press via San Francisco Chronicle (4/3): Thrusters on International Space Station fire to raise altitude late Thursday. Maneuver voids possible collision with a piece of orbiting debris.
Europe lofts first Copernicus environmental satellite
European Space Agency (4/3): Modified Soyuz launcher places first of the European series of Copernicus Earth observing satellites into orbit from Kourou, French Guiana.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
Pentagon mulls building all-American rocket engines, dropping Russian RD-180s
Breaking Defense (4/3): U.S. Department of Defense exams option of developing a U.S. rocket engine to replace Russia’s RD-180, currently in use on American rockets that place national security payloads into orbit.
U.S. military weather observatory fires into orbit
Spaceflightnow.com (4/3): Atlas 5 booster lofts U.S. military weather satellite into orbit Thursday from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
Suborbital
Spaceship pilot joins rival firm
Space News (4/3): Brian Binnie, formally a SpaceShipOne test pilot leaves Scaled Composites, for rival XCOR. Both are vying for passengers in the commercial suborbital spaceflight market.
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