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Today’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. With NASA, put politics aside, says editorial. First test flight of Orion capsule, an unpiloted venture, could advance from December to September. U.S. parts may fill out European contribution to first piloted test flight of NASA’s Orion and Space Launch System heavy lift rocket in 2021. Space Launch System development advances with ATK structural analysis. Congressional auditors find lapses in SLS, Orion cost estimates. On Mars, Curiosity wraps up latest drilling project. Scientists look underground for source of Mars methane. NASA’s Pluto mission searches for second destination. Plants on space station promise fresh air, water and food. Boeing, Samsung like mobile tech, apps for CST-100 operations. Dream Chaser reaches NASA Commercial Crew milestone. Satellite Industry Association reports 3 percent annual revenue rise. U.S. Air Force Space Command sees business as usual with Russian rocket engine production. United Launch Alliance steps up Delta IV production in case Russia blocks export of RD-180 rocket engine for Atlas V. Cause of May 15 Russian Proton rocket failure a mystery. SpaceX seeks source of Falcon 9 first stage helium leak that postponed May 9 Orbcomm launching. France offers Germany concession on possible Ariane 6 development strategy.
Human Deep Space Exploration
Editorial: We can’t afford to leave NASA up in air
Biloxi Sun Herald, of Mississippi, (5/19): Editorial calls for a break in political bickering to restore U.S. space independence.
Exclusive: NASA may bring Orion’s test flight forward
SEN (5/20) NASA will be prepared to advance the first unpiloted test flight of the Orion capsule to September, according to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. The flight, using a Delta IV rocket, was pushed from September to December earlier this year to accommodate a national security mission launching. Bolden told SEN, however, that NASA is keeping its options open and prepared to lift off in September.
Lockheed Martin is seeking to Americanize Orion’s European service module
Space News (5/20): Lockheed Martin looks for U.S. components to fill out the European Space Agency service module assigned to the first piloted test flight of NASA’s Orion crew capsule and Space Launch System heavy lift rocket. The mission could circle the moon, possibly in 2021. ESA will supply the same major power and propulsion module for the first unpiloted test flight of Orion and the SLS in 2017. Cost considerations, however, could restrict what ESA can provide for the 2021 Service Module. American suppliers could be asked to provide the remainder.
ATK brings NASA’s Space Launch System one step closer to 2017 flight
ATK (5/20): ATK completes structural testing of the SLS forward skirt attach points for a pair of solid rocket boosters. The 2017 unpiloted test flight would combine Orion and the SLS heavy lift rocket in flight for the first time. ATK is furnishing the SLS boosters as well as the forward skirt integration.
GAO: True cost of SLS, Orion unclear
Space News (5/19): NASA estimates of Space Launch System heavy lift rocket, Orion crew capsule development are incomplete, according to the U.S. General Accountability Office, the auditing arm of Congress. An estimated $22 billion will be spent on the two programs through 2021.
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
Mars Rover Curiosity wraps up drilling work, prepares for long drive
Space.com (5/19): On Mars, Curiosity wraps up its latest drilling assignment and will soon resume its trek to the base of Mount Sharp. The big rover is searching for more evidence of past habitable environments on the red planet.
Chilled microbes responsible for Mars methane mystery?
Discovery.com (5/20): New study suggests subsurface biological activity on Mars may be responsible for methane in the planet’s atmosphere.
Pluto-bound probe faces crisis
Nature (5/20): As NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft barrels towards the first ever flyby of Pluto in July 2015, scientists hasten their search for a follow on destination. Astronomers would like to identify a second Kuiper belt object for a flyby. The Hubble Space Telescope has joined the search.
Low Earth Orbit
Crew back at work conducting more botany science
NASA (5/20): Science reigns aboard the International Space Station at midweek. One focus is on plant growth, both as a means of recycling air and water and a source of nutrition.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
Apps in space! Boeing looking at mobile tech for new astronaut taxi
Space.com (5/19): Boeing and Samsung team to incorporate mobile technology and apps into the CST-100 commercial crew capsule. Boeing is competing with Sierra Nevada and SpaceX to develop commercial spacecraft to transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station and other orbital destinations. The two companies discuss their plans at this week’s National Space Symposium in Colorado Springs.
Dream Chaser passes wind-tunnel testing
Boulder County Business Report (5/19): Sierra Nevada Corp’s Dream Chaser completes NASA’s Commercial Crew Integrated Capability agreement. Sierra Nevada, Boeing and SpaceX are participants in NASA’s Commercial Crew Program initiative to develop capabilities to transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station.
SIA reports satellite services and manufacturing revenue up in 2013
Spacepolicyonline.com (5/20): Satellite Industry Association reports revenues of $195.2 billion in 2013, a three percent increase, the majority from the services sector.
Shelton: time for “pause” in RD-180 debate
Spacepolitics.com (5/20): It’s time for a pause in the uproar over Russian threats to ban the export of the RD-180 rocket engine, Gen. William Shelton, commander of the U.S. Air Force Space Command, tells a National Space Symposium press conference. Despite comments from Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin a week ago, there’s been no change in export activity, says Shelton. Rogozin linked his threat to U.S. economic sanctions in response to the annexation of Crimea.
With questions swirling, ULA hastens Delta 4 production
Spaceflightnow.com (5/19): United Launch Alliance prepares for increased Delta IV production — in case Russia halts export of the RD-180 rocket engine used by the Atlas V.
Russian Commission still mystified by cause of proton rocket failure
Spacepolicyonline.com (5/20): The cause of a May 15 Russian Proton rocket failure remains unexplained, according to official investigators. The failure of the third stage and loss of a Russian communications satellite appears to have accompanied a third stage pressure drop.
SpaceX investigating Falcon 9 first stage helium leak
Aviation Week & Space Technology (5/21): SpaceX looks for source of May 9 leak in the first stage of Falcon 9 rocket assigned to launch of six Orbcomm satellites. Launching postponed from May 10 until June 11.
French space Minister open to Ariane 6 design changes
Space News (5/20): French space minister offers concessions to her German counterpart on design of the next generation Ariane 6 launch vehicle.
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