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Today’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. NASA agreement with Boeing opens production phase of the Space Launch System core stage. New book examines life of Neil Armstrong. Aerojet Rocketdyne rocket engine is entirely 3D printed. Europe’s Rosetta probe nears comet target. New theory explains Mercury’s big iron core. Goldilocks planet find contested. China envisions Mars rover. Citizen science team pursue spacecraft revival. Russia launches government communications satellites. Russia resets first Angara launch. The comparison between old space and new space is misleading. Space Florida, Kennedy Space Center pursue shuttle runway management agreement. WhiteKnightTwo, SpaceShipTwo in transition. Major space related activities planned for the week ahead.
Human Deep Space Exploration
Melbourne Herald Sun (7/6): NASA’s Space Launch System heavy lift rocket moves into core stage production led by the Boeing Co. “This is the first time a stage of a major NASA launch vehicle has passed a critical design review since the 1970s,” according to NASA’s Tony Lavoie. The SLS is intended to start U.S. explorers on deep space missions. An unpiloted test is planned for 2017.
NBC’s space reporter tells Neil Armstrong’s story in new book
Florida Today (7/6): Neil Armstrong: A Life of Flight goes on sale Tuesday. NBC’s Jay Barbree, who has reported every U.S. human space mission, explains how his long association with Armstrong led to the book he authored. Armstrong, commander of NASA’s Apollo 11 moon landing, died in 2012.
Rocket engine is entirely 3D printed
Metal Powder Report (7/4): Aerojet Rocketdyne says that it has successfully completed tests on a demonstration rocket engine built entirely with additive manufacturing (AM).
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
Rosetta mission one month from historic comet arrival
Spaceflightnow.com (7/6): The European Space Agency’s long running Rosetta mission is one month from its encounter with the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The spacecraft was developed to orbit the comet and deploy a lander to accompany the icy rock around the sun.
Did Huge Impact Shape Planet Mercury?
Space.com (7/6): New study attempts to explain Mercury’s huge core of iron. Multiple collisions of planetary objects in the early days of the solar system may explain the anomaly.
Study debunks a ‘Goldilocks’ planet thought to potentially support alien life
Washington Post (7/3): New studies challenge the 2010 discovery of an Earth-like planet, Gliese 8581g, orbiting a dim red dwarf star 20 light years distant. Processes internal to the star led to the mistake, according to Penn State astronomers.
Top Chinese space scientist hopes to send rover ‘better than Jade Rabbit’ to Mars
South China Morning Post (7/4): Experts behind China’s Jade Rabbit lunar rover yearn to send a more advanced version to Mars. “I hope before my retirement, the Chinese people can begin exploring Mars,” Jia Yang said in an interview. “I hope we can send a rover better than Yutu to Mars.”
Retired spaceflight engineer and team bring back to life a 3-decade-old spacecraft
Washington Post (7/7): Former NASA engineers, citizen scientists bring three decade old U. S. spacecraft, the International Sun-Earth Explorer 3, back to life with July 2 engine firings. “Our plan is simple: we intend to contact the ISEE-3 spacecraft, command it to fire its engines and enter an orbit near Earth, and then resume its original mission,” Keith Cowing, who runs the NASA Watch Web site, wrote in a project status report.
Low Earth Orbit
Russian communications satellites rocket into orbit
Spaceflightnow.com (7/3): Three Russian government civil communications satellite rise to orbit aboard a Rockot launcher.
Commercial to Orbit
Angara re-launch may take place on July 9
Voice of Russia (7/5): The new Angara family of rockets represents Russia’s break from Soviet-era rocketry. A faulty pressure valve stalled a debut liftoff on June 27.
Letter: Old space vs. new space comparison misleading
Florida Today (7/4): Rivalries between traditional space companies and new commercial entities may have been overstated, with many “old” companies supporting “new” space.
Suborbital
Shuttle runway management deal unfinished after one year
Florida Today (7/5): NASA and Space Florida pursue visionary commercial agreement to operate the Kennedy Space Center’s space shuttle runway as part of a federally supervised multi-user spaceport. Agreement sought by late September.
WhiteKnightTwo Returns to the Air: Is SpaceShipTwo Next?
NBC News (7/3): Return marks transition of carrier plane from Scaled Composites to Virgin Galactic, which plans to commercially launch passengers into suborbital space aboard SpaceShipTwo using WhiteKnightTwo as the airborne launcher.
The Week Ahead
What’s Happening in Space Policy July 7-18, 2014
Spacepolicyonline.com (7/6): The U.S. Senate and House reconvene. Russia’s first Anagara rocket launch could happen Wednesday. Orbital Sciences is set to launch its second cargo mission to the International Space Station on Friday.
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