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.
Monday’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space-related activities from around the world, plus a look back at weekend happenings. A recent Zogby poll reflects strong support for NASA’s just retired space shuttle program. NASA plans to encourage more innovation and economic growth with funding that goes to the private sector. Details of a low cost mission to seek life on Mars. Changes in China could spell new opportunity for cooperation in space. NASA faces a big bill for cleaning up the environmental damage from the rocket age. John Marburger, the Bush Administration’s science policy adviser, leaves a legacy: space exploration to expand the economic sphere. Brevard County, home to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge as well as NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, looks to eco-tourism to bolster the economy after the shuttle’s retirement. NASA closes an Apollo era tracking station. Delaware space suit maker, ILC Dover, sees a promising future. NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter finds evidence of a crashed moon probe. Photos from Atlantis reveal the International Space Station in 3-D. Space policy activities scheduled for the week ahead.
1. From Florida Today, July 30: Columnist John Kelly examines a national survey conducted by IBOPE Zogby in the days following NASA’s final shuttle mission. Among the results, pollsters found 74 percent of Americans thought the shuttle program was a worthwhile use of government resources and 59 percent thought it was a bad idea to retire the fleet after Atlantis landed.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110731/COLUMNISTS0405/107310319/John-Kelly-We-want-keep-exploring?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Space%20News
2. From Space News, July 29: NASA intends to alter but not increase the funding that goes to the private sector, NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver tells the Space Frontier Foundation at an annual conference in Mountain View, Calif. Changes would encourage more private investment, innovation and open new markets, reduce costs and increase economic gain. About 85 percent of the agency’s funds go to contractors.
http://www.spacenews.com/civil/110729-nasa-evolve-with-private-sector.html
3. From Space.com, July 31: At the New Space 2011 Conference in Mountain View, researchers present plans for “Red Dragon,” a low cost mission to search the Martian soil for life. A centerpiece is a Space X Dragon capsule and launcher. Cost is estimated at $400 million, with a launch date of 2018.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/12489-nasa-mars-life-private-spaceship-red-dragon.html
A. From POLITICO, July 30: Entrepreneur Elon Musk is among those in the New Space arena who’ve turned to the Washington tradition of lobbying to further their interests with NASA and the Pentagon. Musk, CEO of SpaceX, tells Politico the lobbying seems to go only so far.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/60259.html
4. From Space News, July 29: The Secure World Foundation sees new opportunities to strengthen cooperation in space between the United States and China and others in Asia. Experts note rapid changes in Chinese institutions, including the military and industry. The pace of change is increasing embedded misunderstanding, say observers.
http://www.spacenews.com/policy/110729-opportunities-engagement-china.html
5. From Florida Today, July 30: NASA faces a huge bill to clean up chemicals that propelled the earliest era of spaceflight. The total cleanup bill will reach $1 billion, which could be a factor in NASA’s future spacecraft development. Nearly $150 million will be required to cleanup the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, according to a Florida Today examination of government documents.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110731/NEWS02/107310321/Shuttle-rocket-liftoffs-leave-legacy-costly-cleanups-KSC?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Space%20News
6. From Spacepolitics.com, July 30: Remembering John Marburger, the Bush Administrations White House science adviser. Marburger, who died last Thursday, offered some memorable perspective on space exploration, including the prospects for enlarging the human economic sphere. The moon, he also said, represents a destination for humans with the resources to explore further. Humans, said Marburger, should not rush to Mars until the voyage can be accomplished at reasonable expense.
http://www.spacepolitics.com/2011/07/30/john-marburger-and-his-space-legacy/
7. From the Orlando Sentinel, July 31: Florida’s Brevard County, home to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, turns to eco-tourism to boost an economy damaged by the shuttle program’s retirement. There are the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and the Canaveral National Seashore to help.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-brevard-ecotourism-post-shuttle-20110730,0,3651798.story
A. From Collectspace.com, July 30: With the shuttle program now in retirement, NASA closes the Merritt Island, Fla., tracking station that has been in use since the Apollo era. MILA was a communications link for shuttle crews as they launched and landed.
http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-073011a.html
8. From the Willingham News-Journal of Delaware, June 30: Long time space suit maker, ILC Dover, envisions business largely as usual in the post-shuttle-era. The maker of space suit components for Apollo as well as shuttle astronauts is branching out to produce garb for future NASA missions and space tourists.
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20110731/BUSINESS/107310314/ILC-Dover-finding-plenty-space-left
9. From Space.com, July 30: NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spots what may be the crash site of the agency’s 1967 Lunar Orbiter 2 in imagery of the moon’s surface. An Arizona State University post doc makes the possible ID.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/12476-weird-moon-impact-crater-nasa-spacecraft-crash-site.html
10. From MSNBC, July 29: Photos of the International Space Station as taken by the Atlantis crew on NASA’s final shuttle flight. The imagery depicts the station from a new angle — the long axis. The shuttle rises over the top of the space station tracking along the solar panels.
http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/07/29/7199861-a-different-angle-on-the-space-station?chromedomain=cosmiclog
11. From spacepolicyonline.com, July 31: Space policy related events and activities scheduled for the week ahead.
http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/pages/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1754:events-of-interest-week-of-july-31-august-7-2011&catid=67:news&Itemid=27
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.