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Today’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. NASA exploration chief William Gerstenmaier praises recent National Research Council report on the future of U.S. human space exploration. Essay challenges Apollo model for future human deep space exploration. Asteroid Itokawa, already visited by a Japanese robotic mission, could be a future destination for U.S. space explorers. Russian official disavows plans for tourist forays around the moon. Kansas space museum making course change. Planetary Society examines NASA’s most recent updates to the Asteroid Retrieval Mission. U.S. Pluto mission to gather terrestrial greetings. Curiosity mission logs a full Martian year on the red planet. European mission characterizes Martian dust. Unmanned Martian spacecraft pave way for humans. China’s Jade Rabbit lunar rover stalled but makes do. Space station astronauts experiment, track lingering electrical issue. Orbital Sciences next International Space Station cargo mission launch moves to no earlier than July 10. World View Enterprises test sets record for parafoil flight. Commercial sector pursues suborbital passenger flights a decade after SpaceShipOne makes history.
Human Deep Space Exploration
Gerstenmaier Praises NRC Human Space Exploration Report
Spacepolicyonline.com (6/23): Praise from Willliam Gerstenmaier, NASA’s associate administrator for human exploration and operations, for a recent National Research Council report on the future of U.S. human space exploration, was in response to NASA Advisory Council questioning. He also stresses a pioneering theme as NASA plots its way to Mars with humans, terminology that suggests an intent for explorers to settle as they go.
It’s time for NASA to abandon the Apollo mission model
The Space Review (6/23): Two recent reports on the future of U.S. human space exploration, the National Research Council’s Pathways to Exploration, and NASA’s Pioneering Space, share too much of the Apollo model, according to essayist John Strickland. He offers examples of a non-Apollo approach, including reusable launchers and craft for travel through space, logistic bases in a sequence from Earth orbit to Mars orbit and space-based propellant depots. Strickland serves on the board of the National Space Society but notes his essay is an independent effort.
Asteroid visited by Hayabusa considered for exploration
Japan Times (6/23): The asteroid Itokawa, visited and sampled by Japan’s long running Hayabusa mission is a candidate target for NASA’s Asteroid Retrieval Mission, according to the report. Hayabusa returned to Earth in 2010 with small grains of the asteroid.
The latest on NASA’s Asteroid Redirect Mission
The Planetary Society (6/23): The pro-exploration group breaks down NASA’s Asteroid Retrieval Mission with the latest details, including an option to snag a boulder from a large asteroid as an alternative to the capture of a small asteroid. In either case, ARM would robotically steer the rock into a stable lunar orbit, where it would be available to astronauts launched in NASA’s Orion capsule with the Space Launch System heavy lift rocket.
Roscosmos Disavows Plan to Send Space Tourists to Moon
Moscow Times (6/23): The Russia Federal Space Agency denies recent reports that a modified Soyuz capsule could carry two tourists on a journey around the moon. The reports cited Energia Rocket and Space Corporation, the Russian aerospace company, and Space Adventures, a U.S. company, as collaborators in tourist flights.
Cosmosphere launches mission to inspire students and honor space history
Collectspace (6/23): Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, curators of valuable space memorabilia, shapes future missions to inspire innovation through science education.
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
Greetings from Earth! NASA Spacecraft to Carry Message for Aliens
Space.com (6/23): NASA’s New Horizon probe is on course to flyby Pluto in July 2015. After the flyby, it will receive a digital message from Earth, for a One Earth message, to be carried by the spacecraft on its journey out of the solar system. Jon Lomberg, who helped to fashion recordings for the long ago NASA Voyager missions now well beyond the solar system, led the new effort.
NASA’s Mars Curiosity Rover Marks First Martian Year with Mission Successes
NASA (6/23): NASA’s Curiosity rover marks its first Martian year on the red planet Tuesday. The rover has covered nearly five miles so far on its way to Mount Sharp and discovered evidence of past conditions on the planet suitable for microbial life.
Weird Kind of Dust Found in Mars’ Atmosphere
Discovery.com (6/23): Europe’s Mars Express mission characterizes two kinds of dust particles in the Martian atmosphere.
Unmanned Probes Blaze Trail For Humans
Aviation Week & Space Technology (6/23): NASA’s goal of reaching Mars with humans in the 2030s will follow decades of exploration there by surface landers and orbiters. They are a symbol of the synergy between humans and machines in the exploration of space.
China’s lunar rover limps into another long night
Nature News (6/23) China’s stalled “Jade Rabbit” lunar rover may be immobile, but scientists remain eager to know of its discoveries. Designed to roam 10 kilometers, Yutu rolled about 100 meters before stalling after it touched down as part of the Chang’e-3 mission in December. The Chinese carried out the first soft landing on the moon since 1976.
Low Earth Orbit
Station Workweek Begins With Science and Robotics
NASA (6/23): The International Space Station’s six astronauts and their ground control teams are coordinating experiments this week, assessing an electrical issue and preparing for August spacewalks to relocate a failed thermal control system pump module.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
Update: Antares rocket launch from Wallops pushed back until at least July 10th
WTKR-TV of Virginia (6-23): Orbital Sciences is looking to no earlier than July 10 for the launching of its next Antares/Cygnus resupply mission to the International Space Station, the television station reports. Changing dates reflect progress into the investigation of the explosion of a rocket engine during a pre-flight test firing. The engine was assigned to a 2015 launch.
Suborbital
Heads Up, Strato-Tourists: World View Begins High-Flying Tests
NBC News (6/24): World View Enterprises establishes altitude record for parafoil during test flight for a new balloon craft that would take tourists and researchers into the stratosphere for scenic visions of the Earth and space.
Ten years later, still waiting for the future to arrive
The Space Review (6/23): TSR editor Jeff Foust dials back a decade to reflect on the successful suborbital flight of SpaceShipOne, which was soon to win the Ansari X-Prize. Virgin Galactic, XCOR and Blue Origin spearhead U. S. efforts to achieve commercial suborbital spaceflight on timescales still difficult to forecast, he observes. Financing and technology challenges remain factors.
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