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Today’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. Might a multinational moon base provide a catalyst to solve the Russian/Ukrainian conflict? Moon smells of gunpowder, say those who’ve been there. NASA’s Pluto bound New Horizons mission crosses Neptune’s orbit. Europe’s Rosetta spacecraft spots handful of potential landing sites on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Terrestrial deep space probes converge on assortment of solar system destinations. Russia considers meteor defense. Hubble Space Telescope images raise questions about galactic interactions. Mitigating space debris: A slow and not one-shoe-fits-all process. Space launch competitors contend with slowdown. Weekend SpaceX test flight mishap could slow NASA Commercial Crew Program decision, says analyst. European investigators move quickly to address botched Aug. 22 Galileo satellite launching. U.S. hypersonic weapon’s test ends in failure Monday. High altitude balloons making comeback for astronomy, Earth observation studies.
Human Deep Space Exploration
NASA turns down the volume on rocket noise through SLS scale model acoustic testing
Physics.org (8/25): Engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center go small to gauge noise levels that will be generated by the Space Launch System heavy lift rocket at lift off. The SLS is under development to start U.S. astronauts on future missions of deep space exploration.
An outer space solution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict
The Space Review (8/25): Russia and Ukraine could best settle their differences by joining a multi-national effort to explore and establish a base on the moon, writes essayist Vid Beldavs, a futurist.
The Moon smells: Apollo astronauts describe lunar aroma
Space.com (8/25): Spent gun powder that’s the verdict from those who walked the moon during NASA’s Apollo era.
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
Historic milestone: Pluto mission reaches Neptune’s orbit
Discovery.com (8/25): NASA’s New Horizons mission, on course to fly by distant Pluto in July 2015, crossed the orbit of Neptune late Monday.
European probe has 5 potential drop zones for historic comet landing
Space.com (8/25): The European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft spots five potential landing sites to the liking of scientists on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Rosetta rendezvoused with comet on Aug. 6 for an unprecedented swing around the sun. Rosetta’s Philae lander is to touchdown on the comet’s rocky surface in November.
Earth’s deep space explorers: Global fleet hitting milestones
NASA Spaceflight.com: Spacecraft from the U.S., Europe and India are closing in or are newly arrived at multiple deep space destinations. For the U.S. and India, the destination is Mars orbit with the MAVEN and MOM probes. Europe’s Rosetta spacecraft reached Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko earlier this month for a lengthy rendezvous.
Russia considers meteor impact prevention project
Ria Novosti (8/25): Russia’s Emergencies Ministry ponders a plan to counter the collision threat posed by meteorites of the kind that exploded over Chelyabinsk in February 2013, injuring a reported 1,600 people and inflicting widespread damage to structures. The proposed avoidance system could be ready by 2030.
Hubble zooms in on ‘Galactic Soup’ ingredients
Discovery.com (8/26): Deep field images from the Hubble Space Telescope reveal little understood interactions among distant galaxies, whose shapes don’t seem to conform to the classic “spiral” or “elliptical”
Low Earth Orbit
Rethinking space debris mitigation
Space News (8/15): Mitigation of manmade orbital debris is a serious issue. No one strategy, however, seems to fit all classes of spacecraft. Reaching consensus among nations is a deliberate process, writes Dave Finkelman, an engineer deeply involved in the international processes attempting to deal with the hazard.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
The Space Review (8/25): Demands for launch services are leveling worldwide. New competitors are emerging. The times are unsettling, writes TSR editor Jeff Foust.
SpaceX failure seen slowing NASA pick on capsule contract
Bloomberg News (8/25): A test launch mishap experienced by SpaceX on April 23 could delay NASA’s selection of Commercial Crew Program partners, according to an industry analyst with the Teal Group. The flight test was linked to efforts by SpaceX to develop a reusable first stage for its rockets. SpaceX is among a small group of commercial companies competing for NASA funds to develop transportation systems that will launch astronauts to the International Space Station.
1st findings due Sept. 8 for Galileo launch failure review board
Space News (8/25): In Europe, an independent investigation board will examine the Aug. 22 failure of an Arianespace Soyuz Fregat launcher to place the first two spacecraft in Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation network into the proper orbit.
Suborbital
U.S. hypersonic weapon test ends in failure
Space News (8/25): U.S. military test of hypersonic deep strike weapon fails shortly after lifting off from Alaska.
Modern research borne on a relic
New York Times (8/25): Stratospheric balloon proponents now making a pitch to furnish high altitude platforms for astronomers and scientists involved in Earth studies. “Stratospheric airships could give us space like conditions from a space like platform, but without the space like costs,” said Sarah Miller, an astrophysicist at the University of California, Irvine.
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