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Today’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. Private sector struggles with the financial barriers to deep space exploration. Recalling Apollo 8. NASA coming to terms with private sector in space. New ‘pumpkin’ spacesuit for asteroid mission. James Webb Space Telescope confronts financial obstacles. NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to snap pictures of China’s Chang’e-3 lunar lander. China’s lunar lander and rover turn on science instruments. Hubble spots erupting water on Europa. NASA weighs spacewalk repairs to ISS cooling system vs. launch of Orbital Sciences cargo mission this week. Aerojet Rocketdyne announced completed development testing of a flight-like Launch Abort Engine (LAE). Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser reaches new milestone in NASA’s Commercial Crew Development initiative. Robonaut 2 shy around humans. Lockheed elevates Marilyn Hewson to chairman.
Human Deep Space Exploration
A small step for Mars settlement, but a giant leap of funding required
The Space Review (12/16): Inspiration Mars and Mars One push private sector initiatives to advance human deep space exploration. Like the government programs they are finding that funding is an obstacle.
Apollo 8: humanity’s first voyage to the Moon
The Space Review: Author and essayist Arthur Young recalls the challenges and glory surrounding NASA’s 1968 Apollo 8 mission by Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders.
NASA Inc.: Current woes don’t mean disaster
Time (12/16): An assessment of NASA by the magazine’s Jeffrey Kluger finds the agency moving toward the private sector to manage its human orbital exploration agenda. “NASA is continuing to run the show with its deeper-space unmanned program to the moon or an asteroid or elsewhere though there’s no telling if those efforts will ever bear fruit,” he adds.
New ‘pumpkin’ spacesuit for NASA’s asteroid mission
Brahmand.com (12/16): NASA engineers are testing a modified version of the pumpkin-orange Advanced Crew Escape System (ACES) worn by space shuttle astronauts during launch and re-entry for use by future crew in the Orion spacecraft. As the agency plans human deep space missions, including a voyage to a relocated asteroid, care is being taken to efficiently use space inside Orion.
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
JWST development still faces challenges
Aviation Week & Space Technology (12/16): Aside from technical progress, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope faces financial obstacles during crucial pre-launch testing. Lift of is set for late 2018.
NASA Moon orbiter to image China’s lander/rover
Space Coalition (12/16): NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter prepares to photograph the landing site of China’s Chang’e-3 lunar lander and Jade Rabbit rover. The lander and rover descended near a large crater within the Bay of Rainbows.
Scientific equipment aboard Chang’e-3 starts working
Xinhuanet.com, of China (12/16): Instruments aboard China’s Chang’e’3 lunar lander begin to image the moon, the Earth and deep space.
AmericaSpace.com (12/16): Water rising from eruptive activity on Jupiter’s moon Europa adds to speculation Europa is a haven for life.
Low Earth Orbit
Spacewalk likely needed to fix ISS coolant system
Space.com (12/16): NASA addresses cooling issue aboard the International Space Station while it also considers an Orbital Sciences Corp. Antares rocket launching to the six person orbital outpost with a Cygnus resupply capsule.
Spaceflightnow.com (12/17): Updates on decisions by NASA on whether to pursue spacewalks this week for repairs to the external cooling decision of the International Space Station, or to proceed with the Dec. 19 launching of an Orbital Sciences Corp. cargo mission to the six person orbiting laboratory.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
Market Watch (12/16): Aerojet Rocketdyne, a GenCorp company, announced that it completed development testing of a flight-like Launch Abort Engine (LAE) for an innovative “pusher” launch abort system on The Boeing Company’s CST-100 spacecraft. The launch abort engine is a critical component of future commercial crew transportation to low-Earth orbit.
Dream Chaser receives CCDev-2 green light from NASA
NASAspaceflight.com (12/16): Sierra Nevada Corp’s Dream Chaser lifting body spacecraft meets NASA’s Commercial Crew Development Round 2 milestone requirement.
NASA’s Valkarie leaves off where Robonaut 2, NASA’s space station robot leaves off.
Wall Street Journal: NASA looks to improve its collaboration with General Motors to produce R2, a humanoid robot developed to determine whether humans and machines can work together safely in isolated environments.
Business Moves
Lockheed Martin Board of Directors elects Marilyn A. Hewson Chairman of the Board
Yahoo Finance (12/16): Lockheed Martin adds Chairman of the Board to Hewson’s previous titles as president and CEO.
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