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Today’s CSExtra scan offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. Asteroids best initial destination for the eventual human exploration of Mars, claims scientist. New feature film Interstellar offers dose of black hole realism. Canada’s space agency to change administrators. Astronomers find Jupiter’s giant red spot eerie. Russian re-supply vessel speeds to the International Space Station. Atlas 5 sends U.S. Air Force Global Positioning Satellite into orbit. Orbital Sciences, NASA, investors assess fallout from Tuesday’s explosion of an Antares rocket bound for the International Space Station. Explosion brings focus to Antares’ use of refurbished Soviet-era rocket engines. Lockheed Martin opens new Denver commercial satellite office.
Human Deep Space Exploration
MIT scientist proposes asteroids as destinations before Mars
Boston Globe (10/29): Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Richard Binzel argues that the next destination in space for humans should be the near Earth asteroids. The asteroids qualify as worthy destinations for humans prior to a long mission to Mars, said Binzel. However, he is no fan of NASA’s proposed Asteroid Redirect Mission, which would place an asteroid around the moon before it was visited by astronauts. Binzel expressed his views in the journal Nature.
‘Interstellar’ black hole is best black hole in sci-fi
Discovery.com (10/29): Soon to open feature film Interstellar raises the bar on black hole science. Cal Tech physicist Kip Thorne added the realism to a film drama that explores the challenges of relocating civilization.
Retired general Natynczyk, head of space agency, moves to veteran’s affairs
Toronto Globe and Mail (10/29): Canadian Space Agency chief Walt Natynczyk will leave the post after less than a year to become the deputy minister of veteran affairs. Natynczyk is a retired general.
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
Jupiter’s ‘giant eye’ makes planet look like Cyclops
Huffington Post (10/29): Just in time for Halloween, astronomers spotlight spooky giant red spot on Jupiter.
Low Earth Orbit
Russian cargo ship docks with ISS
Spacepolicyonline.com (10/29): Russia’s Progress 57 launches and docks with the six person International Space Station early Wednesday, delivering nearly three tons of supplies. Russian mission follows disastrous launch of Orbital Sciences third U.S. commercial resupply mission to the station.
U.S. Air Force successfully launches eighth GPS 2F navigation satellite
Space News (10/29): United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket places latest U.S. Global Positioning Satellite into orbit, following lift off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on Wednesday.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
Antares rocket explosion leaves questions and dead mosquito eggs
New York Times (10/29): Orbital Sciences, others assess the fallout from Tuesday’s explosion of an Antares rocket loaded with cargo bound for the International Space Station. Early assessments suggest the launch pad at Virginia’s Mars Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport was not severely damaged; the station is equipped with months of supplies; Orbital’s losses were insured; and there were no casualties.
Wallops launch site spared major damage
Space News (10/29): NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility appears to have escaped major damage from Tuesday’s Antares rocket explosion, according to Orbital Science’s Chairman and CEO David Thompson.
Antares failure: Damage not too bad, identifying likely cause: days not weeks away
Spacepolicyonline.com (10/29): Orbital Sciences executives say cause of Antares rocket explosion may be days, not weeks from establishing. The company’s next launch could be three months to a year away, said David Thompson, Orbital’s chairman and CEO.
Trying to go to space on the cheap has had disastrous consequences in the past
The Washington Post (10/29): Tuesday’s Antares rocket explosion raises a question: Is the U.S. cutting corners in its enthusiasm for space. The Orbital Sciences rocket relied on aging but refurbished Soviet era rockets as a first stage propulsion source.
Ukrainian aerospace company launches own investigation of Antares rocket explosion
TASS, of Russia (10/30): The Ukrainian developers of Orbital Sciences Antares’ first stage begin their own investigation into Tuesday’s explosion.
The Antares explosion: Confronting the inevitable risks of space travel
The New Yorker (10/29): The Antares explosion is unlikely to end NASA’s turn to commercial operators for low Earth operations. The space agency does not have the resources to launch all of its missions, according to the magazine’s assessment. As to the cause of the blast: “…the history of rocketry is so full of failures of all kinds that is would be foolish to jump to any conclusions.”
Analysis: What the supply rocket explosion means for Orbital and for commercial space
Houston Chronicle (10/29): Antares loss should not deter NASA’s strategy of turning orbital operations over to the commercial sector, according to the Chronicle’s assessment.
How a 1960s Soviet engine appeared on an exploded U.S. rocket (video)
Moscow Times (10/30): Orbital’s use of Soviet era rocket engines, Ukrainian components are an illustration of co-dependence among post-Cold War space powers, according to U.S. expert. Surplus engines from Soviet moon program came to space markets in the 1990s.
Asteroid-mining tech among casualties of Antares rocket explosion
Space.com (10/29): Tuesday’s Antares blast claims 5,000 pounds of cargo bound for the International Space Station, including the Arkyd 3 satellite, a tiny technology demonstrator built by asteroid-mining firm Planetary Resources. The company vows to recover with little impact to its business plan. A successor is in the works for launching next year.
Lockheed Martin opens Colorado commercial space HQ as it adds hundreds of jobs
Denver Business Journal (10/29): Lockheed Martin opens new quarters for its commercial satellite business. The opening could mean 100s of new jobs in the Denver area.
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