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Today’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. MIT professor Dava Newman under consideration for NASA deputy administrator, according to report. Former NASA deputy administrator Shana Dale takes FAA commercial space post. NASA, Lockheed Martin address licensing requirements for first unpiloted Orion test flight on Dec. 4. NASA, contractors tackle SLS exploration upper stage requirements. Exploration brings out the best in the U.S. however, federal resources still an issue. Russia takes focus on the moon. Europe primed for Nov. 12 comet landing. NASA’s lunar atmosphere mission honored. Decline of China’s Yutu lunar rover continues. Role of lunar volcanism re-examined with surprising outcome. Flexibility new touchstone for robots. Ocean wind sensor opens new door for the International Space Station. Talk of space station Nobel Prize slips away. Secretive U.S. Air Force X-37B mission drawing to a close this week. NASA selects research teams for deep space oxygen recovery hardware. Space station astronauts offer new Earth views. Shuttle Endeavour display receives Spacehab payload. Russia vows to keep Baikonur active. XCOR reaches milestone in assembly of Lynx suborbital craft. Major activities planned for the week ahead.
NASA
MIT professor considered for NASA Deputy position
Space News (10/10): MIT’s Dava Newman, professor of aeronautics and astronautics, is under consideration for a White House nomination to become NASA’s deputy administrator, the trade publication reports, confirming a report on NASAwatch.com. The post has been vacant since Lori Garver stepped down in September 2013 to become general manager of the Air Line Pilots Association.
Shana Dale joins FAA Commercial Space Office as Deputy AA
Spacepolicyonline.com (10/11): Shana Dale, a former NASA Deputy Administration, will become Deputy Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation at the Federal Aviation Administration as of Nov, 3, 2014.
Human Deep Space Exploration
Commercial licenses, waivers needed for Orion test flight
Space News (10/10): Exploration Flight Test-1, a two orbit unpiloted test flight of NASA’s developing Orion crew exploration vehicle, is set for a Dec. 4 lift off. Prime contractor Lockheed Martin is responsible for the test, which will require a complex set of licensing from the FAA for the launching from Cape Canaveral, Fla., and re-entry and landing in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast.
NASA lines up Exploration Upper Stage workhorse for SLS
NASASpaceflight.com (10/12): NASA’s second flight of the Space Launch System heavy lift rocket could feature the first flight of the powerful new Exploration Upper Stage, according to the web site’s report. The mission could unfold in about 2021. The SLS is under development for the launching of astronauts on future deep space missions.
If Bill Nye had 60 seconds to persuade Congress to fund space exploration, he’d say this
Huffington Post (10/10): “I’d say space exploration brings out the best in us,” says Bill Nye, the Science Guy, in a recent guest spot on Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s StarTalk Radio. “It’s inherently optimistic, it stimulates the economy in the U.S….we make discoveries that literally change the world.”
Florida Today (10/11): As President Obama opened his first term, the White House sought an independent assessment of the nation’s human space flight program. Aerospace company executive Norm Augustine chaired the effort, which concluded NASA’s course in space was not financially sustainable. There’s been no change, according to Augustine. “We asked the administration, please don’t do what so many administrations do, which is say we want to do it all and then underfund it, which is exactly what happened,” adds Leroy Chiao, a member of Augustine’s panel and a former NASA astronaut.
Russia to take Moon exploration as core of space program
Xinhua, of China (10/10): Russia’s federal space agency, Roscosmos, says the moon will be the focus of Russian exploration over the next decade. The first human mission could come in the late 2020s.
Russian Luna-25 mission to cost billions: Space Agency
Ria Novosti, of Russia (10/10): Surface and orbital lunar missions are a priority by the end of the next decade, according to Yuri Makarov, chief of strategic planning for Roscosmos, the Russian federal space agency.
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
Drop zone! Cross hairs on a comet
Coalition for Space Exploration (10/9): Europe’s Rosetta mission to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is closing in on a critical date, Nov. 12. Rosetta’s Philae lander is drop to the comet’s surface. NASA is a mission contributor.
NASA’s Ames Research Center wins Popular Mechanics award for third time
Spaceflight Insider (10/10): Magazine award cites work by Ames on NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) mission. The mission was recognized for its design and cost management. LADEE explored for 100 days re-characterizing the moon’s thin atmosphere.
China’s ailing moon rover weakening
Xinhuanet (10/10): China’s Yutu rover, which was delivered to the lunar surface last December, continues to degrade, according to a Chinese space official. The rover was immobilized soon after landing on what was to be a three month science expedition.
Volcanoes reveal lunar eruptions long lived
National Geographic (10/12): Findings from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter reveal the moon’s surface was altered by a lengthy period of volcanism rather than a giant asteroid impact. Remnants of small volcanoes spotted by the spacecraft are excellent candidates for future exploration, according to Arizona State University scientists.
The USSR’s race to the moon’s far side
The Daily Beast (10/12): The former Soviet Union’s Luna 3 mission presented the first images of the moon’s far side. Though a grainy black and white, the first images revealed the moon’s far side is distinct from the side always facing the Earth.
Flexible ‘tentacle robots’ could aid planetary exploration
Space.com (10/10): The animal world, it seems, offers inspiration for a new generation of flexible robots.
Low Earth Orbit
Winds sensor opens door for Earth science from ISS
Spaceflightnow.com (10/12): The addition of NASA’s RapidScat to the International Space Station in September has opened the door to a new mission for the orbiting lab. RapidScat, assembled from satellite spares, captures readings on wind speed and direction at the ocean surface.
No Nobel Prize for ISS this year
Florida Today (10/10): Talk of the International Space Station as a Nobel Peace Prize winner fails to materialize this year. The 2014 prize winners were announced Friday.
Secretive U.S. robotic mini-shuttle to end 22-month mission on Tuesday
Reuters (10/12): The U.S. Air Force X-37B is scheduled to end a lengthy classified mission at Vandenburg Air Force Base, Calif., on Tuesday, the military announced Friday. The winged reusable space plane developed by Boeing was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on Dec. 11, 2012.
NASA selects advanced oxygen recovery proposals for spacecraft missions.
Spaceflight Insider (10/10): NASA selects four research proposals to generate oxygen aboard the International Space Station through recycling, with the goal of reaching a 75 percent recovery.
Spacemen at work: Astronauts snap amazing EVA photos
Discovery.com (10/10): Space walkers Reid Wiseman and Alexander Gerst snapped away during their Oct. 7 spacewalk, capturing amazing views of their activities and the Earth.
Go for payload! Spacehab installed inside space shuttle Endeavour for display
Collectspace.com (10/9): Spacehab, a frequent shuttle payload, joins orbiter Endeavour on public display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
Russia to continue Baikonur use along with new Vostochny spaceport
Itar Tass (10/10): Russia’s push to open the new domestic Vostochny spaceport will not end plans to continue using the historic Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for mission launches, according to a high ranking official of the Russian federal space agency, Roscosmos.
Suborbital
XCOR installs cockpit into Lynx space place
Florida Today (10/10): The milestone installation of the cockpit in XCOR’s Lynx piloted suborbital spacecraft marks a prelude to test flights at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in 2016.
Major Space Related Activities for the Week
Major space related activities for the week of October 13-17, 2014
Spacepolicyonline.com (10/12): The International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight convenes Wednesday in New Mexico. NASA astronauts conduct a spacewalk on Wednesday. Congress remains in recess.
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