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Thursday’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. The U. S. and Russia settle on Sept. 16 for the return to Earth of three of the International Space Station’s six astronauts. The week’s delay was prompted by the Aug. 24 Russian Soyuz rocket failure and loss of a Progress supply craft. What to do about the accumulation of man made debris in Earth orbit. Tracking the fragments with radar is one thing, but cleaning it up is even more daunting. NASA’s final shuttle mission touched down in July, but on paper the agency’s long running shuttle program did not conclude until Wednesday. Colorado’s lawmakers urge NASA to work as quickly as possible on the Orion/Multipurpose Crew Vehicle that is to succeed the shuttle. Representatives from nearly a dozen space faring nations gather in Japan this week to discuss how they might work together on a future mission to Mars. NASA meets a new science fiction feature it does not seem to like.
1. From Florida Today: NASA and Russia agree to bring three of the International Space Station’s six crew back to Earth Sept. 15-16. American Ron Garan and Russians Andrey Borisenko and Alexander Samokutyaev will descend in their Soyuz capsule after 163 days. Their stay was extended for a week because of the Aug. 24 loss of Russia’s Progress 44 re-supply mission to station. The loss was blamed on a malfunction of the Soyuz rocket, a launcher similar to the kind used to launch astronaut crews to the station. The station partnership has delayed the scheduled Sept. 21 launch of replacements while Russia investigates.
http://space.flatoday.net/2011/08/us-astronaut-station-mates-set-return.html
A. From Ria Novosti of Russia: NASA Astronaut Ron Garan pokes fun at himself with a You Tube video that has the flier singing the blues over his longer than anticipated stay on the space station due to the Aug. 24 Progress loss. The launch failure pushed the descent of the Soyuz capsule with Garan and Russians Andrey Borisenko and Alexander Samokutyaev from Sept. 8 to Sept. 15-16.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20110901/166350756.html
B. From Russia Today: As Russia copes with recent rocket failures, including the Aug. 24 loss of a Progress space freighter headed for the International Space Station, some in the country are talking of a greater future emphasis on robotic research missions, less on human activity in space.
http://rt.com/news/space-iss-unmanned-mission-523/
2. From Scientific American Magazine: A look at the hazards of man made orbital debris to human spacecraft and satellites. The U. S. is making headway in its ability to track the debris with radar and warn of potential spacecraft collisions. But the task of hauling in the thousands of pieces of destructive fragments, all relics of the Space Age, presents a major obstacle.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=orbital-debris-space-fence
A. From USA Today: The hazards posed by space debris to orbiting spacecraft like the International Space Station seem to be a cost of having humans in space. The space station has dodged debris several times in its nearly 13 years in orbit.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/story/2011-08-31/Solutions-sought-for-growing-space-junk-problem/50207662/1
3. Collectspace.com: Wednesday marked the formal end of NASA’s long running shuttle program. The agency transitioned from the Shuttle Program to the Space Shuttle Retirement and Transition Office to watch over the disposition of shuttle hardware including orbiters Discovery, Endeavour and Atlantis.
http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-083111a.html
4. From the Denver Post: Colorado lawmakers urge more support for NASA’s Orion/Multi Purpose Crew Vehicle, the spacecraft that is to replace the space shuttle. The four person capsule will be designed for missions to the moon, asteroids, Mars and points in between. Last week’s Russian Progress mission loss has the lawmakers expressing new urgency for an initiative rooted in their state.
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_18791781
5. From Space.com: Representatives from many of the world’s space faring nations gathered in Japan this week to discuss prospective collaboration on a human mission to Mars. They discussed two tracks beyond the International Space Station, one leads to the moon, the other to an asteroid. Eventually, Mars becomes a common goal.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/12795-mars-missions-roadmap-human-space-exploration.html
6. From the Los Angeles Times: NASA, usually front and center when it comes to working with the film industry, backs away from Apollo 18, a new science fiction feature opening Friday about a secret final moon mission that involves extraterrestrials.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-nasa-hollywood-20110901,0,2246744.story
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