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Today’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. Work on NASA’ Space Launch System heavy lift rocket is taking off at the Marshall Space Flight Center in 2015. Op-ed touts moon over Mars as human destination. Were asteroids the planetary building blocks? Prospects for planets beyond Neptune grow. Kepler finds nearby star with three “super Earths”. Red dwarf stars could be best places to find Earth-like planets. Asian powers race to space. NASA astronaut Scott Kelly preps for year-long space mission, while twin Mark Kelly will serve as ground control for genetic studies. European Space Agency laying groundwork for Chinese space station mission. U.S. weather satellites face space debris hazard. Iran cancels space program. India examines recently flown human space capsule prototype. Orbital Sciences signs rocket engine deal with Russia’s Energia. A look at major space policy activities scheduled for the week ahead.
Human Deep Space Exploration
NASA’s Space Launch System won’t launch until 2018, but the program to build it takes off in 2015
Huntsville Times (1/16): NASA’s Space Launch System heavy lift rocket development is working towards a major milestone this year, critical design review. The review will lock in a blue print. Recent milestones in NASA’s efforts to develop the hardware for new missions of human deep space exploration include a first stage rocket engine firing and an unpiloted test flight of the Orion crew exploration capsule. In March, contractor ATK plans a ground test firing of the SLS five segment solid rocket booster.
Houston Chronicle (1/17): The Earth’s moon represents the most promising destination for human explorers, according to an op-ed. Mars is too far, writes author Mark Whittington. The U.S. should partner with the European Space Agency for a lunar lander to accomplish the task, he writes.
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
Asteroids may not be planet building blocks after all
Space.com (1/16): Plentiful asteroids may not be the planetary building blocks they have been long thought to be. Instead, they may be an intermediate product of the planet forming process, according to a new study led by an MIT researcher and published in the journal Nature.
At least two more planets may exist beyond Pluto
Discovery.com (1/16): Prospects for a pair of Neptune sized planets beyond Pluto may explain the movements of smaller objects in the Kuiper belt beyond Neptune, according to a study published by the Royal Astronomical Society.
Kepler discovers three super-Earth exoplanets orbiting nearby star
AmericaSpace.com (1/17): Kepler’s alien planet hunting space telescope finds three more “super Earths” orbiting a nearby star. EPIC 201367065 is a star 150 light years away and one of the 10 closest stars where transiting exoplanets have been detected.
The best bet for alien life may be in planetary systems very different from ours
Wired.com (1/16): For a long time, it’s been assumed that Earth-like alien planets would be found circling sun-like stars. However, another class of stars, smaller red dwarfs, may be a better bet, according to a new assessment of recent exoplanet discoveries.
It’s On: Asia’s new space race
The Daily Beast (1/17): In Asia; India, China and Japan compete for leadership in space.
Low Earth Orbit
Astronaut Scott Kelly will spend a year in space while scientists study his twin here on Earth
Washington Post (1/16): In late March, U.S. astronaut Scott Kelly will join Russian Mikhail Kornienko for a year-long stay aboard the International Space Station. On Earth, Kelly’s twin, retired NASA astronaut Mark Kelly, will serve as a subject along with his brother in investigations that will look for possible genetic changes associated with space flight.
ESA hikes budget, takes steps to send astronaut to Chinese Space Station
Space News (1/16): The European Space Agency furthers plans to launch an astronaut to China’s future space station. In December, China was ranked along with the U.S. and Russia as a major strategic partner by ESA’s ministers.
One reason GAO says satellite gap could last longer than NOAA expects: space debris
Roll Call (1/16): The current U.S. weather satellite observation strategy could be weakened by a spacecraft collision with orbital debris, a new U.S. Government Accountability Office report cautions.
Iran just cancelled its space program
Medium (1/17): Iran’s space program cancellation came without fanfare on Jan. 9, according to the website. Iran’s efforts were focused on satellite development, with help from Russia.
Prototype of crew capsule for manned missions back home
The New Indian Express (1/17): India’s prototype human space capsule, launched in December, is turned over to experts who will examine the spacecraft to determine how it performed.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
$1 billion rocket engine deal cements Russia’s place in U.S. space industry
Moscow Times, of Russia (1/16): Russia’s Energia Corp. has signed a $1 billion agreement to provide RD-181 rocket engines to Orbital Sciences Corp., the U.S. launch services company, the publication reports. Orbital, under contract to NASA to deliver supplies to the six person International Space Station, is recovering from an Oct. 28 Antares rocket mishap.
Major Space Related Activities for the Week
Major space related activities for the week of January 19-23, 2015
Spacepolicyonline.com (1/18): The U.S. Senate and House committees with responsibility for oversight of NASA policy convene this week.
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