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Today’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. The space community remembers NASA’s three Apollo 1 crew members, who perished 47 years ago Monday in a launch pad fire. NASA awaits new deputy administrator. A Wyoming company joins with NASA to upgrade Space Launch System crawler transporter. Insect experiment suggests weightlessness may jeopardize the immune system. NASA’s Opportunity rover turns 10 on Mars with gusto. China’s Jade Rabbit lunar rover experiences problems, perhaps serious. More on Mars’ “jelly donut” rock find. Physicist Stephen Hawking updates his understanding of black holes. London students spot January supernova during telescope instruction. International Space Station cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy plan Monday spacewalk for installation of Canadian Earth observing cameras. NASA, NOAA near procurements for commercial crew transportation providers, new weather satellite. NASA’s Commercial Crew Program partners anticipate key contract decisions during 2014. United Launch Alliance looks at busy Atlas, Delta launch schedule for 2014. A look at space policy related activities scheduled for the week ahead.
Human Deep Space Exploration
Our spaceflight heritage: remembering the crew of Apollo 1
Spaceflight Insider (1/27): Monday marks the 47th anniversary of the Apollo 1 launch pad fire that claimed the lives of NASA astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee. The space agency recovered from the tragedy and went on to reach the lunar surface for the first time with the crew of Apollo 11 during the time frame established by President John Kennedy.
Bolden: search for new deputy administrator ongoing
Space Politics (1/24): NASA Administrator Charles Bolden says the White House has candidates for the agency’s No. 2 leadership post. The previous deputy, Lori Garver, departed in September for a leadership position with the Air Line Pilots Association.
Gillette company teams with NASA
San Francisco Chronicle via Associated Press (1/27): L&H Industrial of Gillette, Wyoming teams with NASA to upgrade the crawler transporter vehicle at the Kennedy Space Center to move the massive Space Launch System heavy lift rocket to the launch pad. The Space Launch System is in development to start U.S. explorers on future journeys of deep space exploration.
Outer space is hazardous to your health, especially if you’re a fly
NBC News (1/24): Lengthy exposures to weightless lead to changes in the immune systems of flies. The findings came from a NASA space shuttle experiment. The findings raise questions about human space flight, say scientists. More research aboard the International Space Station is planned.
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
Opportunity turns 10, makes discovery, shows old rovers can still rock
Los Angeles Times (1/24): NASA celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Opportunity rover on the Martian surface as last week came to a close. Initially expected to rove the Martian terrain for 90 days, Opportunity has lived up to its name with discoveries that suggest the red planet’s environment was once suitable for microbial life.
Beijing, we have a problem: China’s first moon rover Jade Rabbit breaks down
South China Post (1/26): Experts fear China’s Jade Rabbit rover may be hobbled after it encountered a mechanical ‘abnormality’ just halfway through a three-month lunar mission
China reports problem with its lunar rover
New York Times (1/27): China’s lunar rover, nicknamed Jade Rabbit, has developed a problem that may prevent it from further exploration of the surface of the moon, Xinhua, the state-run news service, said. The rover, known as Jade Rabbit, was part of the unmanned Chang’e-3 mission launched Dec. 1.
Washington Post (1/26): Reflections on a mysterious rock, tagged a jelly donut that appeared in images from NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity between December and January.
Stephen Hawking: There are no black holes
Space.com (1/25): The famed physicist offers his latest thinking of the clash between general relativity and quantum mechanics at the black hole junction.
How students discovered new supernova in nearby galaxy
Space.com (1/26): A behind the scenes account of how students in London discovered the supernova flash in Messier 2, a nearby galaxy, a week ago. The students were at the University of London Observatory.
Low Earth Orbit
Station crew wrapping up preps for Monday’s spacewalk
NASA (1/24): International Space Station cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergei Ryazanskiy are scheduled to begin a six hour spacewalk on Monday at 9:10 a.m., EST. Their tasks feature the installation of two Canadian commercial cameras for Earth observations. The two men completed the installations on Dec. 27, but the cameras failed to transmit data to Russia’s Mission Control. The difficulties were attributed to internal and external cable connection problems.
Russian EVA to re-attempt installation of Earth-observing cameras
NASAspaceflightnow.com (1/26): Cosmonauts Oleg Kotov, commander of the International Space Station, fellow space walker Sergei Ryazanskiy will attempt to install external medium and high resolution Earth observing cameras developed by the Canadian company Urthecast. Transmission difficulties thwarted efforts to install the cameras during a Dec. 27 spacewalk that established a Russian record of more than eight hours.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
NASA, NOAA prepare for procurements on signature programs
Space News (1/24): NASA and NOAA, the U.S. federal space and environment agencies, prepare for major procurements in 2014, NASA for commercial crew launches to the International Space Station, and NOAA to develop a second polar orbiting weather satellite in the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) spacecraft series. NASA will develop the weather satellite for NOAA.
Space notebook: Launch contenders wait for word
Florida Today (1/25): In a look ahead and back, Florida Today points toward late summer and fall for a decision from NASA on the number of U.S. commercial companies it will support for crew transportation services to Low Earth Orbit. This week, will bring memorials for NASA’s Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia crews. In all 17 astronauts perished in the 1967, 1986 and 2003 tragedies.
Atlas and Delta have packed slate of launches in 2014
Spaceflightnow.com (1/26): United Launch Alliance anticipates a busy year for its family of Atlas and Delta rockets.
Major Space Related Activities for the Week
Space related activities planned for the week ahead
Spacepolicyonline.com (1/26): Activities scheduled for the week include a Congressional hearing on China in space.
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