To subscribe to CSExtra via RSS feed click here.
If you would prefer to receive CSExtra in e-mail format, e-mail us at Info@space.com with the word SUBSCRIBE in the subject line.
Today’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. Landing on Mars: from rovers to humans. Wake up before sunrise on Wednesday to witness a reddish lunar eclipse. Russia is pioneering a landing system for 2018 Exo-Mars rover, a joint effort led by the European Space Agency. U.S., European astronauts aboard the International Space Station team up early Tuesday for a spacewalk. Japan launches a new generation of weather satellites. New series of European Earth observing satellites begin regular operations. NASA’s Kennedy Space Center to break ground on new headquarters building. Bigelow Aerospace plans launch of experimental inflatable module to the International Space Station in 2015. Russia’s commitment to space tourism steadfast. Pondering the decade old Ansari X-Prize aftermath. Scaled Composites ready to resume SpaceShipTwo test flights with new fuel.
Human Deep Space Exploration
Chief engineer for Mars rover Curiosity takes his charge’s mission personally
Washington Post (10/6): Rob Manning’s commitment to space exploration is second only to that of his wife and child. Closely involved at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the Mars Curiosity landing of August 2012, Manning is expanding those efforts to work on landing systems for future human missions to the red planet.
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
Wednesday’s lunar eclipse will create a ‘blood’ moon
USA Today (10/6): In North America, be up before sunrise for a look at a full lunar eclipse — where cloud conditions permit. The moon will have a reddish cast.
October 2014 Blood Moon: Total lunar eclipse coverage
Space.com (10/7): On the U.S. East Coast, the Earth’s shadow should fall across the full moon in totality at 6:25 a.m., EDT, shortly before the moon sets. On the West Coast, the moon should be high in the sky as totality plays out between 3:25 a.m. and 4:24 a.m., PDT.
Russian scientists develop mechanism for rover’s descent to Mars
Ria Novosti, of Russia (10/6): As a partner to the European Space Agency in the 2016-18 Exo-Mars missions, Russia has developed a surface landing system for the rover that will be launched on the second joint mission. The rover will search the red planet’s terrain for evidence conditions were once suitable for life.
Low Earth Orbit
Station astronauts gear up for spacewalk Tuesday
CBS News and Spaceflightnow.com (10/6): Reid Wiseman, of NASA, and Alexander Gerst, of the European Space Agency, will embark early Tuesday on a NASA choreographed spacewalk, the first in a flurry of excursions scheduled in the aftermath of a July 2013 incident in which space suit cooling system water leaked into the helmet of ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano. A series of spacewalks stretching into 2015 is intended to equip the orbiting lab for dockings of new U.S. Commercial Crew Program spacecraft.
H-2A rocket boosts Japanese weather satellite into orbit
Spaceflightnow.com (10/7): Japan launches a next generation weather satellite to monitor tropical weather developments across the Asia/Pacific. Lift off was at 1:16 a.m., EDT.
Europe’s first Copernicus satellite begins operations
Space News (10/6): The first in a new series of European Earth observing radar satellites begins routine operations. The Sentinel 1-A spacecraft was launched in early April.
Groundbreaking Tuesday for new Kennedy Space Center headquarters
News 13, of Central Florida (10/6): NASA’s primary launch site breaks ground on a new centralized administrative office tower.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
Private inflatable room launching to Space Station next year
Space.com (10/6): Bigelow Aerospace remains in line to launch an experimental inflatable module to the International Space Station in 2015. The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module will find a berthing spot on the station’s U.S. segment Tranquility module. Inflatable modules could become an important part of future human deep space exploration.
Roscosmos: Russia remains committed to space tourism
Moscow Times, of Russia (10/6): Russia’s ground breaking efforts to launch space tourists to the International Space Station continue in spite of tensions with the West over Moscow’s intervention in Ukraine, says the head of the Russian federal space agency. British singer Sarah Brightman will train in 2015 to launch on a 10 day Soyuz mission to the six person orbiting outpost next October.
Suborbital
It’s been 10 years since the X-Prize – so where is my space taxi?
Popular Mechanics (10/6): SpaceShipOne won the $10 million Ansari X-Prize for a pair of piloted suborbital flights in early October 2004. Eager tourists are awaiting the opportunity to make the high altitude journey. SpaceShipOne pilot Brian Binnie says the oxidizer and fuel that power the larger successor, SpaceShipTwo, has been a challenge.
Virgin Galactic poised to resume SpaceShipTwo powered flights
Space News (10/6): SpaceShipTwo will soon resume test flights, say officials at Virgin Galactic, which plans future suborbital passenger flights. Since the most recent test flight in January, Scaled Composites has changed fuels in the rocket ship. The new fuel is reaching “qualification” status through a series of nearly completed ground tests. Following new flight tests, SpaceShipTwo will move from Scaled Composites to Virgin Galactic for FAA licensing.
Brought to you by the Coalition for Space Exploration, CSExtra is a daily compilation of space industry news selected from hundreds of online media resources. The Coalition is not the author or reporter of any of the stories appearing in CSExtra and does not control and is not responsible for the content of any of these stories. The content available through CSExtra contains links to other websites and domains which are wholly independent of the Coalition, and the Coalition makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or authenticity of the information contained in any such site or domain and does not pre-screen or approve any content. The Coalition does not endorse or receive any type of compensation from the included media outlets and is not responsible or liable in any way for any content of CSExtra or for any loss, damage or injury incurred as a result of any content appearing in CSExtra. For information on the Coalition, visit www.space.com or contact us via e-mail at Info@space.com.