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Tuesday’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. With the exception of Mission Control and skeleton crews to watch over space science missions, NASA joins federal government shutdown. NASA approaches 56th year with a score card of accomplishments. Space Station astronauts unpack new Cygnus supply capsule. Saturn’s moon Titan reveals propylene as future space resource. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter cameras capture images of blast effects from Apollo landings. Tradition of space bipartisan eroding, cautions space advocate. Essays examine NASA call for proposals for Asteroid Redirect Mission and U. S. commercial initiative to return to the moon with commercial explorers. SpaceX says Sunday Falcon 9 launch included promising 1st stage recovery test. Acclaimed astrophysicist shares passion for alien planet search. The space-travel industry is more competitive than ever. Elderly rise to meet health challenges of suborbital spaceflight. Space Station imagery of the Earth joins strong cast of new sci-fi film, Gravity.
1. From Space News: NASA braces for government shutdown. Skeleton crews will watch over science mission spacecraft. Mission Control, however, will remain active to watch over International Space Station astronauts.
A. From Spacepolicyonline.com: With a government shutdown looming, President Obama notes NASA is among federal agencies that will furlough workers with the exception of those professionals watching over the International Space Station in Mission Control.
B. From the Orlando Sentinel: Government shutdown expected to result in furlough of 7,000 Central Florida workers, with most coming from the military or NASA.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/os-shutdown-florida-effect-20130930,0,2195024.story
C. From the Business Insider via The Houston Chronicle: Six astronauts aboard the International Space Station should be fine during government shutdown. NASA’s Mission Control staff is exempt from space agency job furloughs.
http://www.chron.com/default/article/NASA-Astronauts-In-Space-Will-Not-Be-Affected-By-4858140.php
2. From NASA.gov: NASA approaches start of 56th year with a score card of accomplishments.
http://www.nasa.gov/content/nasa55/index.html#.Uko9mdIwkQM
3. From the Washington Post: NASA’s LADEE lunar orbiter spacecraft swings close to the Earth one final time early Tuesday. Launched on Sept. 6 from the Mid Atlantic Regional Spaceport, of Virginia, LADEE is spiraling toward the moon, where it will be captured by lunar gravity to study the moon’s thin atmosphere.
4. From Florida Today: Astronauts aboard the International Space Station begin to unpack Orbital Sciences’ newly arrived Cygnus re-supply ship. Cygnus berthed Sunday. Hatches opened early Monday.
A. From NASA.gov: Cygnus unpacking begins Monday just after 4 a.m., EDT. Commercial freighter to remain berthed until Oct. 22.
http://www.nasa.gov/content/crew-opens-hatch-to-cygnus-begins-unloading-cargo/#.Ukqh_NIwkQM
B. From the Los Angeles Times: 3-D Printer developed at NASA’s Ames Research Center on deck for mission to the International Space Station. The device would address the need for spare parts that could be manufactured to specification in orbit.
C. From NASA.gov: NASA and the European Space Agency announce future International Space Station crew selections, Tim Kopra and Tim Peake.
5. From Wired.com: NASA’s Cassini mission detects the hydrocarbon propylene on Saturn’s moon Titan. Among the simplest of organic compounds, propylene is a raw material is found in storage containers, films and car bumpers.
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/09/cassini-titan-propylene/
6. From the Coalition for Space Exploration: Cameras aboard NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spot evidence of rocket blast from Apollo mission landers.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/blog/moon-photos-show-lander-blast-zones
7. From Space News: U. S. space policy relies on a Washington bi-partisanship to make strides, writes Brandan Curry, a Space Foundation vice president and former Congressional aide. But the atmosphere is changing. “Nowadays, I see the dysfunctionality of the larger body politic in Washington taking hold in space policy,” writes Curry. “That is clearly not good for us, or for our future in space.”
http://www.spacenews.com/article/opinion/37474bipartisanship-the-new-final-frontier
8. From The Space Review: In “NASA tries to keep an asteroid mission in the bag,” TSR editor Jeff Foust spot lights the NASA hosted Asteroid Initiative Idea Synthesis Workshop that opened Monday at Houston to solicit mission ideas. The three day event faced a quick conclusion with the government shut down. Nonetheless, NASA selected 96 of more than 400 responses to a June call for mission ideas from the agency’s own experts, international partners, industry, even private citizens.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2373/1
A. From the Space Review: In “Back to the moon commercially,” Apollo 8 and 13 commander Jim Lovell explains why the Golden Spike Co., may represent America’s best option for returning human explorers to the moon. The strategy calls for the use of existing rockets and emerging U. S. commercial crew transports to reach a price point attractive to other nations, industry even wealthy individuals. “Such an approach offers enormous cost, schedule and reliability advantages,” writes Lovell, who is providing his expertise to the venture. A version of this op-ed appeared in Space News as well.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2374/1
9. From Popular Mechanics: The upgraded Falcon 9 rocket launched by SpaceX on Sunday carried out a successful restart of the first stage after deploying a stable of satellites. The restart test is part of the company’s strategy to develop a recovery capability for a reusable first stage.
10. From New Scientist: MIT prize winning astrophysicist Sara Seager, the widowed mother of two young children, explains her passion: searching for alien planets.
11. From Time Space & Science: The space-travel industry is more competitive than ever — and just as in all industries, there will be winners and losers.
http://science.time.com/2013/09/29/space-race-2013-whos-up-whos-down-whos-going-nowhere/
A. From Discovery: NASA’s astronauts are among our culture’s healthiest individuals. As Virgin Galactic prepares to begin launching tourists into suborbital space, its finding that illness is okay as long as it’s managed. The company tested prospective clients, some in their 70s, and found they handled spaceflight stresses pretty well.
http://news.discovery.com/space/private-spaceflight/are-you-fit-to-fly-into-space-130928.htm
12. From the New York Times: The new science fiction film Gravity is winning acclaim for its realism even before its Oct. 4th opening. The production includes images of the Earth photographed from the International Space Station. What’s not to like about this space thriller regarding a shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope? It’s not the scenery, nor the drama.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/01/science/space/an-astronaut-and-a-writer-at-the-movies.html?_r=0
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