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Today’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. NASA readies Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center for the Space Launch System heavy lift rocket, with its first test launch anticipated for the last half of 2018. NASA’s New Horizons mission team will get a chance at a second flyby target after speeding past Pluto in July. The source of the 2013 Chelyabinsk fireball was a well battered fragment from a main belt asteroid, say scientists. NASA’s Mercury orbiting MESSENGER spacecraft lowers its altitude for the long running mission’s final weeks. Aging meteorite produces odd “quisicrystal.” NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, who is set to begin the first U.S. one-year mission in space this Friday, will be a subject of genetics experiment with his identical twin brother Mark Kelly, a retired NASA astronaut. International Space Station astronauts capture photos of rare solar eclipse. Space Station commander Terry Virts is a big Baltimore Orioles fan. U.S., United Arab Emirates agree to cooperate in space. Sierra Nevada leverages work on Dream Chaser for possible International Space Station re-supply missions. Russians sack second Vostochny Cosmodrome construction chief. A look at major space policy related activities planned for the week ahead.
Human Deep Space Exploration
KSC pads continue preparations for future vehicles
NASAspaceflight.com (3/22): At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Launch pad 39B is undergoing an overhaul to prepare the structure for the first variants of the Space Launch System heavy lift rocket that is to start U.S. explorers on future missions of deep space exploration. The first launch, an unpiloted test flight of the Orion crew exploration capsule, is planned for the second half of 2018.
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
After Pluto, where will NASA’s New Horizons go?
Discovery.com (3/21): NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is on course to carry out the first ever flyby of distant Pluto, a Kuiper Belt Object, on July 14. Then what? Mission scientists have two more distant targets, but only enough fuel to reach one. A decision that would permit the flyby of a second Kuiper Belt Object between January and March of 2019 is due by August.
NASA surprised by Chelyabinsk Russian meteor fragments
Forbes.com (3/22): The 20 meter wide meteor that exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia just over two years ago was a fragment from a larger well battered space rock that dated back to the solar system’s early era and came from the main asteroid belt, scientists report.
MESSENGER will give Mercury a close shave before mission end
SEN (3/22): Launched in 2004, NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft has been orbiting tiny Mercury since 2011. The mission is expected to draw to an end in the coming weeks with a crash to the surface as the probe exhausts its fuel supply. The spacecraft will spend its final weeks skimming the surface for a final close-up study of the planet’s composition and magnetic field.
Oddball ‘crystal’ survived crash to Earth inside meteorite
Space.com (3/20): Scientists at Princeton University find a rare “quasi crystal” locked in a meteorite that fell to Earth 15,000 years ago. The story of how it formed even longer ago is still a mystery.
Low Earth Orbit
Kelly twins – Scott, Mark – help gauge effects of space travel
Arizona Public Media (3/20): Scott Kelly is set to launch late Friday on the first one year mission aboard the International Space Station. Kelly and his identical twin brother, Mark, will also participate in a first ever round of experiments to determine if Scott’s genetics are changed by the long mission. Mark Kelly is a retired NASA astronaut who lives in Arizona.
Scott Kelly prepares for a year in space on ISS
ABC News (3/22): Astronaut Scott Kelly gets the fun part of a first ever study of how space influences the genetic makeup of humans. He will spend a U.S. record one year in space aboard the International Space Station. His twin brother Mark Kelly, a former NASA astronaut, gets the easy part. Mark Kelly will pursue life on Earth, serving as the control subject. Scott is scheduled to launch aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket late Friday.
Twin astronaut to break NASA record in study
USA Today (3/23): “What we hope to learn is what we need to learn: What remains to be understood before we definitively and confidently say we are “go for Mars,” said NASA’s John Charles, who leads the research for a mission that will launch NASA astronaut Scott Kelly to the International Space Station for a U. S. record one year stay.
Astronauts snap amazing total solar eclipse photos from space
Space.com (3/20): Astronauts aboard the International Space Station capture images of the solar eclipse early Friday. Commander Terry Virts joined European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti to snap the photos.
The Orioles have a big fan aboard the International Space Station
Washington Post (3/20): Baltimore, Md., native Terry Virts, the current commander of the International Space Station, is “Go O’s” for Orioles. as the U.S. Major League Baseball season prepares to get underway.
U.S., United Arab Emirates move forward on space cooperation
Reuters (3/20): The U.S. State Department reports an agreement with the United Arab Emirates to cooperate on space matters, including security.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
Sierra Nevada proposes all-in-one solution for ISS resupply
Spaceflightnow.com (3/20): Sierra Nevada plans to reconfigure the automated Dream Chaser transport it was developing to carry astronauts to and from the International Space Station into a resupply vessel. The unpiloted cargo version will compete for a NASA contract to deliver supplies to the six person station and return scientific gear and other equipment. NASA selected Boeing and SpaceX for crew transport contracts in 2014.
Another construction boss sacked at Russia’s mega Cosmodrome
Moscow Times (3/20): For a second time within a year, the construction boss for the $2.5 billion Vostochny Cosmodrome project in eastern Russia has been dismissed. The project is behind schedule amid reports of scandal. Vostochny represents Russia’s bid to establish a domestic alternative to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Major Space Related Activities for the Week
Major space related activities for the week of March 23-27, 2015
Spacepolicyonline.com (3/21): The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee will consider White House nominee Dava Newman as NASA’s deputy administrator on Wednesday. The previous deputy, Lori Garver, left in Sept. 2013. The space agency may decide on Option A or B this week for NASA’s proposed Asteroid Redirect Mission. The House Science, Space and Technology Committee will host a hearing on the James Webb Space Telescope on Tuesday.
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