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Today’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. Houston space conference in 2015 will bring leaders from aerospace, energy, medicine and other fields together. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency clears plutonium power source for NASA’s Mars 2020 Rover. British-led company plans mission to moon’s south pole. The European Space Agency’s Philae lander confirms presence of organics at Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Volcanic activity may explain flowing Martian water. Russian satellite’s movements raise suspicions. Earth counts two fireballs a month. FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation in need of more funding, according to editorial. NASA’s Commercial Crew Program extends work with Blue Origin. ATK and Orbital Sciences move ahead with merger plans. Russia rolls large new commercial rocket to launch pad for late December lift off.
Human Deep Space Exploration
Space conference coming to Houston in 2015
Houston Chronicle (11/18): NASA joins with Houston convention planners to introduce business leaders to technologies developed for human space exploration. SpaceCom, planned for November 2015, will include representatives from energy and medicine as well as NASA and commercial space companies.
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
EPA finds no show-stoppers with radioactive battery for Mars 2020
Space News (11/17): The Environmental Protection Agency clears a nuclear power source for NASA’s Mars 2020 Rover. NASA plans to power the rover with a multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator. Mars 2020 will gather and store samples of the Martian terrain for eventual return to Earth. The EPA requires an environmental impact statement as part of the launch preparations for a spacecraft with nuclear materials on board.
Return to the Moon: Lunar Mission One will crowd-source its way to space
SEN (11/19), of England: A British-led holding company plans to send Lunar Mission One, a robotic probe, to the moon’s south pole within a decade. The mission is intended to drill into the rock and ice. The company is seeking financial assistance through a Kickstarter campaign.
Philae lander sent in a surprise before going to sleep
Sciencenews.com (11/18): Before communications lapsed, the European Space Agency’s Philae lander transmitted data suggesting that Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko has a dusty surface covering an icy layer. Beneath that lies organic compounds.
Philae managers say recovery possible as comet approaches sun
Space News (11/18): The European Space Agency declares it has not given up on prospects the Philae lander will be able to communicate with Earth. A crucial part of ESA’s Rosetta mission to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, Philae touched down on the comet Nov. 12. The difficult touchdown ended with the solar-powered Philae in shade and unable to quickly recharge its batteries.
Philae lander not to become costly space junk per Russian scientist
ITAR TASS, of Russia (11/18): The European Space Agency’s Philae lander is poised to search for further evidence of organic molecules beneath the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
Volcanoes may have warmed Mars enough for water
Discovery.com (11/18): Martian volcanic activity may be responsible for environmental conditions that once allowed water to flow on the red planet, according to a study appearing in the journal Nature Geoscience. The activity could explain why climate models suggest Mars was always cold and icy, while the terrain bears evidence that water flowed.
Low Earth Orbit
Russia’s mysterious satellite fuels speculation
NBS News (11/18): Possible Russian experimental satellite may be tracking foreign, domestic satellite targets in Earth orbit, according to amateur spacecraft trackers.
Small asteroid impacts spark fireballs in Earth’s sky every other week
Space.com (11/18): Fireballs, caused by small asteroids flying into the atmosphere, light the skies of the Earth twice a month on average, according to a new study by NASA researchers.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
Editorial | Responding to SpaceShipTwo tragedy
Space News (11/17): The FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation is in need of a larger budget to fulfill its regulatory responsibilities for the U.S. commercial launch and spaceflight industries. The late October losses of Orbital Sciences’ Antares rocket and Virgin Galactic’s piloted SpaceShipTwo should serve as evidence for the need, according to a Space News editorial.
NASA extends commercial crew agreement with Blue Origin
Space News (11/18): NASA will extend unfunded support of Blue Origin’s efforts to develop a U.S. commercial crew launch capability.
ATK to move ahead with Orbital Sciences merger plan
Washington Post (11/18): ATK and Orbital Sciences assure investors a merger of the two companies is imminent. Assurances follow an ATK look at Orbital Sciences response to the Oct. 28 Antares/Cygnus loss.
Russia’s new heavy-lifter rolled to launch pad
Spaceflightnow.com (11/19): Russia rolled its largest new rocket in a decade to a launch pad at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome earlier this month. Launching of the Angara 5, which will compete for commercial satellite missions, is planned for late December.
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