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Today’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. Seeking creative, audacious types. On Mars, Curiosity reverses to ease wheel wear. NASA’s Mars MAVEN mission explained. Long running Mars Odyssey probe alters orbit to investigate morning ice and fog. China’s Yutu rover failing, claims expert. Engineers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center equip James Webb Space Telescope with its most sophisticated instrument. Asteroid disrupts pulsar. United Launch Alliance Delta 4 places U.S. Global Positioning Satellite in orbit. Retired NASA astronaut Dale Gardner, who helped to pioneer shuttle Manned Maneuvering Unit operations, dies. Reflections from John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth — 52 years ago this week.
Human Deep Space Exploration
NASA’s ‘Mohawk Guy’ advocates ‘audacious’, creative engineering
University of Washington (2/20): ‘Mohawk Guy’ Bobak Ferdowsi soared to fame as a NASA flight engineer for his colorful personal style during the drama of the Curiosity rover’s landing on Mars in August 2012. “Mostly, I want younger generations to realize there is this opportunity to be yourself and to be an engineer or a scientist and not feel like there’s some cultural mold that everyone has to fit into,” the University of Washington alum told a school gathering this week. “In fact, if you look at the Curiosity mission rappelling on a jetpack down to the surface of Mars that actually takes creative, audacious types of people. We want that sort of creativity that individuals bring to the table.”
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
Martian dune buggy Curiosity adopts new driving mode to save wheels from rough rocks
Universe Today (2/20): On Mars, NASA’s Curiosity rover moves ahead in reverse to lessen unexpected damage to wheels caused by the rocky surface. Curiosity is moving across the floor of Gale Crater on its way to Mount Sharp.
How NASA’s MAVEN probe will investigate Mars atmosphere mystery
Space.com (2/20): Once it reaches Mars in September, NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft will attempt to explain a mystery: what happened to the water and air that once covered the red planet.
NASA Mars probe shifts orbit to study early-morning fogs and frosts
Space.com (2/20): The long lived Mars Odyssey spacecraft orbiting Mars is shifting its course for new studies of fog and ice on the planet’s surface. The vapor and frozen material come from carbon dioxide.
Space Daily (2/21): Recent erratic transmissions suggest China’s Yutu lunar rover is not functional, says analyst.
Mid-Infrared instrument installed for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope
AmericaSpace.com (2/20): NASA releases video of Mid-Infrared Instrument installation on the James Webb Space Telescope. The observatory’s assembly is leading to a late 2018 lift off. MIRI is the James Webb’s most sophisticated instrument. Assembly is under way at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
The pulsar that munched a billion ton asteroid
Discovery.com (2/20): Scientists point to asteroid collisions as source of signal disruption from rapidly spinning pulsar. Findings were reported in the Astrophysical Journal Letter.
Low Earth Orbit
New GPS satellite put into orbit by Delta 4 rocket
Spaceflightnow.com (2/20): United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket successfully places new Boeing built Global Positioning Satellite in orbit for the U.S. Air Force. Lift off delayed briefly because of solar radiation levels.
Dale Gardner, jetpack-flying astronaut who salvaged satellites, dies at 65
Collectspace.com (2/21): Former NASA astronaut Dale Gardner dies. Gardner was among the few astronauts to operate the Manned Maneuvering Unit, an untethered spacewalk propulsion device flown aboard the shuttle. He was 65.
Friendship 7: Feb. 20, 1962 “exploring legends” interview with John Glenn
Space Insider (2/20): John Glenn, the first American to circle the Earth, reflects on a life that embraced the Marine Corps, NASA, business and politics. Thursday marked the 52nd anniversary of his historic Mercury mission.
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