To subscribe to CSExtra via RSS feed click here.
If you would prefer to receive CSExtra in e-mail format, e-mail us at Info@space.com with the word SUBSCRIBE in the subject line.
Today’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. Human space exploration: ready to leave Earth orbit? NASA’s exploration plans go festive in a visit to an Alabama town square. Inflatable modules promise more volume for explorers on deep space missions. B612 Foundation’s Ed Lu reflects. NASA’s Cassini mission takes another close look at Saturn’s moon Titan. International Space Station astronauts celebrate busy week. Opinions on Old Space vs. New Space. U.S. House moves ahead with domestic replacement for Russia’s RD-180 rocket engine. United Launch Alliance is set to prepare Florida Launch pad for Boeing’s CST-100 crew transport to the International Space Station. Environmentalists ponder a South Texas commercial launch complex. Commercial remote sensing satellites provide clues to fate of Noah’s ark. Remembering SpaceShipOne’s history making suborbital flight. A look at major space related activities scheduled for the week ahead.
Human Deep Space Exploration
Human spaceflight study co-chairs to appear before House Science Committee
Spacepolitics.com (6/22): The House Science, Space and Technology Committee will hear from the co-chairs of the recent National Research Council report, Pathways to Exploration, on Wednesday. The report on the future of the nation’s human space exploration program was chartered by Congress in 2010 and released in early June. Mitch Daniels, president of Purdue University, and Johnathan Lunine, a Cornell University scientist, will testify before the panel. The NRC pointed to Mars as the long term destination for human explorers.
Human space exploration stalled in LEO
Aviation Week & Space Technology (6/23): Budgets and technical hurdles loom as the U.S. casts an eye towards Mars as the future destination for human exploration. “Most of the world’s space agencies include Mars in their exploration plans, but only NASA treats it as a viable goal toward which work is ongoing now…” the publication reports in a collection of articles on the current status of human exploration.
NASA on the Square showcases technology and the future
Huntsville Times (6/21): NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center brings the promise of the Space Launch System heavy lift rocket and Orion crew capsule to downtown Huntsville. “Can you imagine the dancing in the streets of Huntsville if someone from here is the first person to step on Mars?” Patrick Scheuermann, Marshall’s director, asked his audience.
These inflatable modules could change space exploration
The Smithsonian (6/21): The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) will head for the International Space Station next year to evaluate inflatable technologies. Once secured to the station’s U.S. segment, BEAM will inflate to 13 by 11 feet. Can BEAM weather the micrometeorite and space debris environment and exposure to ultraviolet radiation? If the inflatable habitat fares well, it could join NASA’s Space Launch System and Orion crew capsule as a key element of human deep space exploration.
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
Catching up with the former astronaut Ed Lu
New York Times (6/21): Lu, the veteran of a 185 day mission to the International Space Station, is chief executive of the B612 Foundation, a private effort to identify asteroids that pose a collision threat to the Earth. Lu, who recently discovered the music of Broken Bells, treasures a Godzilla toy collection.
Reflections of alien seas: Cassini’s latest flyby of Titan
Spaceflight Insider (6/21): NASA’s long running Cassini mission at Saturn swung close to Titan, a moon with a thick nitrogen rich atmosphere and lakes filled with liquid hydrocarbons. Titan, scientists believe, resembles a primordial Earth.
Titan – Odoriferous outer moon on Saturn
Coalition for Space Exploration (6/20): NASA’s Cassini mission unravels the chemistry of Saturn’s moon Titan. The chemistry is a recipe for the smell of a distant world.
Titan’s ‘magic island’ rose mysteriously from the depths
Discovery.com (6/23): Successive flybys of Titan by NASA’s Cassini probe reveal the appearance and disappearance of a small island.
Driving, driving, driving – Curiosity’s top priority on the road to mysterious Mount Sharp
Universe Today (6/22): On Mars, the roving Mars Science Laboratory, also known as Curiosity, takes on a new urgency in reaching the base of Mount Sharp.
Low Earth Orbit
Space to ground: Out of this World Cup soccer
NASA (6/23): A look at life aboard the International Space Station last week — from spacewalks to science experiments and interest in World Cup soccer.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
Matt Reed: Old Space vs. New Space, at a glance
Florida Today (6/22): The columnist offers his opinion on the differences.
Why does the USA depend on Russian rockets to get us into space?
The Daily Beast (6/22): Columnist P.J. Orourke takes an irreverent look at the history of the U.S./Russian spat over import and production of the RD-180 rocket engine.
House approves RD-180 replacement appropriation as U.S. readies more Russia sanctions
Spacepolicyonline.com (6/20): The U.S. House passed 2015 Defense appropriations bill includes $220 million to begin development of a U.S. alternative to the import of Russia’s RD-180 rocket engine. Russia has threatened to halt the export of the rocket engines in the back and forth with the U.S. over Moscow’s intervention in Ukraine.
AmericaSpace.com (6/20): United Launch Alliance plans to begin upgrades to launch pad 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., to prepare the complex for launches of Boeing’s CST-100 to the International Space Station with astronauts. Boeing is one of three companies competing for a NASA contract to transport crew to the station.
Space project raises concerns over impact
Houston Chronicle (6/20): In South Texas, SpaceX deals with environmental concerns as it considers a remote site near Brownsville for a new commercial launch complex.
Noah’s search: Probing satellite imagery for lost ark
Space.com (6/21): As commercial Earth imaging satellites achieve ever higher resolution, scientists go to work on the fate of Noah’s ark and the migrations of penguins and polar bears.
Suborbital
Ten years later, the future just ain’t what it used to be
Parabolic Arc (6/21): A look back at the first flight of SpaceShipOne a decade ago. “It seemed (then) that very soon, space would no longer be the purview of highly trained government employees or the super rich who could afford to spend $20 million for week long trips to the International Space Station. People with much smaller net worth would soon be able to climb aboard a Rutan vehicle and enjoy the view of Earth from space,” according to the website. “A decade later that future remains just out of grasp.”
Major Space Related Activities for the Week
Major space related activities for the week of June 23-27, 2014
Spacepolicyonline.com (6/22): A look at major space policy activities scheduled for the week ahead.
Brought to you by the Coalition for Space Exploration, CSExtra is a daily compilation of space industry news selected from hundreds of online media resources. The Coalition is not the author or reporter of any of the stories appearing in CSExtra and does not control and is not responsible for the content of any of these stories. The content available through CSExtra contains links to other websites and domains which are wholly independent of the Coalition, and the Coalition makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or authenticity of the information contained in any such site or domain and does not pre-screen or approve any content. The Coalition does not endorse or receive any type of compensation from the included media outlets and is not responsible or liable in any way for any content of CSExtra or for any loss, damage or injury incurred as a result of any content appearing in CSExtra. For information on the Coalition, visit www.space.com or contact us via e-mail at Info@space.com.
