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Today’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. Aerojet Rocketdyne completes milestone study on upper stage rocket for the NASA Launch Services (NLS) II medium and heavy launch vehicles for planetary and heliophysics missions. Apollo 11’s Buzz Aldrin remembers historic moon landing, urges humanity on to Mars. Alabama’s Richard Shelby exercises space policy clout. Valiant effort by volunteers to recover inactive NASA satellite succumbs to propulsion system failure. NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover overcomes wheel damage. Planetary Society announces 2016 LightSail experiment launch. Orbital Sciences’ International Space Station cargo mission launch slips to Saturday. U.S. Senate panels to host hearing on domestic launch issues. United Launch Alliance primed to modify Atlas V launch pad for Boeing, Sierra Nevada commercial crew launch vehicles. Bigelow recruits former NASA astronauts for commercial space station project. FAA clears South Texas for possible SpaceX commercial launch complex. Anxious French aerospace workers stage brief walkout over Europe’s unfolding commercial launch strategy. Russia’s Angara rocket debuts.
Human Deep Space Exploration
Aerojet Rocketdyne completes study on common upper stage service for NASA
MarketWatch/Wall Street Journal (7/9): Aerojet Rocketdyne completes milestone study on upper stage rocket for the NASA Launch Services (NLS) II medium and heavy launch vehicles for planetary and heliophysics missions. Plan has utility for a range of U.S. commercial launch vehicles as well. “The upper stage would allow launch vehicles to deliver spacecraft and payloads to further destinations in space that are otherwise not possible with existing launch vehicles alone,” according to the study.
After 45 years: Space race a thing of the past
Voice of America (7/9): U.S. nears 45th anniversary of the first Apollo moon landing. Efforts of thousands of Americans led to the July 20, 1969 landing that led to the inaugural moonwalk by NASA astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Armstrong died in 2012. Aldrin is 84.
Buzz Aldrin makes the case for a one-way manned mission to Mars
Los Angeles Times (7/9): Apollo 11’s Aldrin recounts his moon landing with Neil Armstrong 45 years ago on July 20 for two young film actors.
Buzz Aldrin asks ‘Where were you?’ when Apollo 11 landed on the moon
Collectspace.com (7/8): Apollo 11’s Buzz Aldrin has a question: where were you when Apollo 11 touched down on the moon 45 years ago this month with Neil Armstrong and Aldrin at the controls.
Buzz Aldrin says U.S. space policy ‘adrift,’ calls for Mars mission
Washington Examiner (7/9); Apollo 11’s Buzz Aldrin points to the human exploration of Mars as humanity’s next destination in deep space. July 20 will mark the 45th anniversary of NASA’s first moon landing. Aldrin joined Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong for a globally televised stroll on the lunar surface.
Huntsville Times (7/9): Alabama’s U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby emerges as a force for the future of space exploration.
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
Bid to ‘reboot’ aging NASA satellite is scuttled as fuel system fails
Los Angeles Times (7/9): Efforts by an enthusiastic team of U.S. space veterans to steer NASA’s three decade old ISEE-3 solar observatory into Earth orbit succumb to a propulsion system failure. The vets succeeded in raising private donations to support their efforts to revive the spacecraft, which will now continue to orbit the sun.
How wheel damage affects Mars rover Curiosity’s mission
Space.com (7/9): Despite wheel damage, NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover continues its long journey toward Mt Sharp. Some damage was anticipated as the one ton, six wheeled rover touched down in Gale Crater in August 2012. The rugged terrain, however, has caused more than anticipated. Martian “caprock” appears to be the primary cause.
LightSail 1 solar sail due for SpaceX launch in 2016
NBCNews.com (7/9): The Planetary Society selects a scheduled April 2016 launching for its LightSail1 experiment. The experimental technology uses the force of solar protons to push a Mylar spacecraft sail into deep space. The Planetary Society’s sail should be visible to naked eye observers on the Earth as it deploys.
Low Earth Orbit
Orbital’s second paid cargo run to Space Station slips to July 12
Space News (7/9): Stormy weather forces a slip from July 11 to July 12 in the launching of Orbital Sciences upcoming re-supply mission to the six person International Space Station. Storms late July 8 prevented roll out of the Antares rocket with its Cygnus supply capsule to the launch pad at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Virginia. Berthing at the Space Station is expected July 15.
AmericaSpace.com (7/10): Orbital Sciences memorializes late NASA astronaut Janice Voss with Orb-2 Cygnus mission.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
Senate committees planning joint hearing on launch issues
Spacepolitics.com (7/9): The U.S. Senate Armed Services and Commerce committees plan a joint hearing July 16 on U.S. reliance on Russian rocket engines and other space access issues. The session follows Russian threats to halt the export of the RD-180 a rocket engine used by the Atlas V rocket and legislative actions to develop a domestic alternative. Tensions between Washington and Moscow built over Russia interference in Ukraine.
ULA awaits NASA decision before outfitting pad for crew
Spaceflightnow.com (7/9): United Launch Alliance completes plans to modify an Atlas V launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Launch Complex 41, for the launching of astronauts — if Boeing or Sierra Nevada wins a contract in the next round of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. A decision is expected in August or September. Boeing’s CST-100 and Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser are two of the companies involved in the final phases of the NASA development program.
Bigelow Aerospace begins hiring round by adding former Astronauts Ham, Zamka
Space News (7/9): Bigelow makes NASA astronaut hires as it prepares for a commercial U.S. space station presence in Earth orbit.
SpaceX gets final environmental clearance for South Texas launch site
Houston Chronicle (7/9): FAA ruling allows SpaceX to apply for license to construct a commercial launch complex in Boca Chica Beach, near Brownsville in South Texas.
Anxious Arianespace workers stage brief walkout
Space News (7/10): French workers stage July 8 walkout to express concerns over a pending overhaul of European commercial launch services. European ministers, scheduled to meet again in September, are considering competing designs for the Ariane 6 to meet a changing global market.
First Angara rocket launched on suborbital test flight
Spaceflightnow.com (7/9): Russia succeeds with a suborbital test flight of its new Angara family of rockets. The flight begins to close the door on the country’s reliance on Soviet-era rocketry. The 140 foot tall launcher rose from its launch pad at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome at 8 a.m., EDT.
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