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Today’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. NASA’s Space Launch System program manager outlines program progress. President Obama honors U.S. astronauts who gave their lives for exploration. Editorial urges policy makers to honor fallen with strong space program. Canada to unveil new space policy. NASA extends LADEE moon mission. On Mars, Curiosity considers a less rugged course. Europe warms to an exo-planet seeking mission. Astrobiologist shakes up notion of life after the big bang. February night skies. Re-examining black holes. Moon camera heads to auction. U.S., Russian astronauts complete winter survival training for one year International Space Station mission. Bruce McCandless’ iconic untethered spacewalk remembered. U.S. Navy christens new ship for John Glenn, first American to orbit the Earth. Houston, the nation’s NASA astronaut hub, changes course with rise of commercial space. Editorial raises concerns for NASA Commercial Crew Program funding. Baumgartner’s leap via GoPro. Major space policy activities scheduled for the week ahead.
Human Deep Space Exploration
SLS program manager Todd May talks about the future of NASA’s biggest rocket
WHNT-TV, of Huntsville (1/31): “We got through preliminary design in less than two years which is really a record for a launch vehicle, especially an Exploration class with a very efficient outlay of resources to get there. But we’re really a lot further along than that,” explains May in a television interview. NASA’s Space Launch System heavy lift rocket is in development to start U.S. explorers on missions of deep space exploration. The Marshall Space Flight Center, of Alabama, is leading the development effort.
Teledyne Brown tapped to provide critical SLS hardware
Spaceflight Insider (2/1): Huntsville, Ala., contractor Teledyne Brown will develop a critical launch vehicle stage adapter for the Space Launch System heavy lift rocket, NASA announced on Friday. The hardware will connect the SLS core and upper stages for a 2017 test flight.
Obama honors fallen astronauts of NASA spaceflight disasters
Space.com (1/31): U.S. President Obama joined those across the nation who paid tribute to the 17 astronauts lost in the Apollo 1 fire and the Challenger and Columbia shuttle tragedies on NASA’s Day of Remembrance on Friday. “Our exploration of space has expanded our knowledge of the universe, improved our lives here on Earth and been a source of inspiration and pride for generations of Americans,” said Obama in a statement.
Honor fallen astronauts, revitalize space program
Orlando Sentinel (2/2): In an editorial, the Sentinel urges U.S. congressional and Florida leadership to honor the lives of the 17 men and women who perished in the Apollo 1 fire and the shuttle Challenger and Columbia tragedies with a strong space program. “We hope the latest spending plan approved by Congress reflects a realization among more members that the United States can’t maintain the world’s leading space program on the cheap,” writes the Sentinel. “If leaders in Florida are committed to remaining the nation’s top launch site, the state’s economy has much to gain. They should keep taking steps to make Florida more space friendly, especially to the growing commercial sector. But history says the entire nation will benefit from a thriving space program. NASA’s missions have spawned scientific discoveries and spurred technological innovations, two critical components for competing in the global economy. It’s no wonder that other countries, including China, are ramping up their own programs.”
Industry Minister James Moore to announce new Canadian space policy framework Feb. 7
Canadian Press (1/31): An unfolding new Canadian space policy is based on partnerships with other nations and the private sector on inspirational initiatives, the publication reports. The policy will pursue a strategic agenda that includes job growth, sovereignty, security and new knowledge.
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
NASA extends Moon exploring satellite mission
NASA (1/31): NASA grants a 28 day extension to the Lunar Atmosphere Dust Environment Explorer mission launched Sept. 6. The satellite has been circling the moon since Oct. 6 in its quest to better characterize the thin lunar atmosphere. The spacecraft will impact the moon’s surface around April 21 with the extension.
Holy wheels, sharp rocks force NASA’s Curiosity rover to seek smoother pathway to Mount Sharp
Universe Today (2/2): An accumulation of wheel damage has prompted managers for NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover to consider a change in course as the robotic geologist makes its way to the base of Mount Sharp. The change would take the rover over a dune rather than a rock field.
Exoplanet probe leads pack of ESA mission candidates
Spaceflightnow.com (2/2): The European Space Agency is close to approving the PLATO planet seeking mission. Targeted for a launch between 2022-2024, PLATO would scan nearby stars for signs of habitable planets. The candidates could become targets for follow-up studies by NASA’s powerful James Webb Space Telescope.
Did alien life evolve just after the big bang?
Space.com (1/31): Some astrobiologists shake up notions of where and when life emerged in the universe.
Skywatch for February, by Blaine P. Friedlander Jr.
Washington Post (2/1): The skies of February promise to sparkle late and early with Jupiter, Orion, Mars, and Saturn. Venus ascends brightly in the pre-dawn as the month wanes.
Why Hawking is wrong about black holes
Universe Today (2/1): Black holes, event horizons and quantum mechanics — the latest on an unfolding discussion about the nature of black holes and thermodynamics.
NASA moon landing camera claimed to be used by Apollo astronaut up for auction
Collectspace.com (1/31): Up for auction: the Hasselblad camera used by Apollo 15 astronaut James Irwin as he explored the moon in 1971. The cameras will be up for sale in Austria on March 22.
Low Earth Orbit
Future year-long crew shivers in Russian forest
Ria Novosti, of Russia (1/31): NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Gennady Padalka complete winter survival training near Moscow recently. Kelly and Kornienko are prime crew for a yearlong mission aboard the International Space Station starting in the spring of 2015. Temperatures dropped below zero as they constructed a shelter, ignited a fire and rehearsed first aid procedures. The mission would establish a space record for an American.
‘Plenty of people to talk to me’: 30 years since first untethered spacewalk
AmericaSpace.com (2/2): Photos of NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless became quickly iconic as he drifted away from the shuttle Challenger on Feb. 7. 1984 on the first untethered spacewalk. McCandless, who shared the historic spacewalk with astronaut Robert Stewart, powered the Manned Maneuvering Unit on his back to a distance of 300 feet from the shuttle.
Navy names ship in honor of astronaut John Glenn
Associated Press via Florida Today (2/1): U.S. Navy christens a new ship for John Glenn, the Mercury astronaut who became the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962. The 785-foot USNS John Glenn is a Mobile Landing Platform ship, developed to quickly transport troops and supplies to shore.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
As commercial space heats up, wither Space City?
Houston Chronicle (1/3): Historically, Houston has hosted U.S. astronauts and their training for missions to space at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. The equation is changing however with the rise of U.S. commercial space transportation companies. The Houston region is addressing the issue with plans for a City of Houston spaceport. “We’re seeing a democratization of access to space,” said Michael Lopez-Alegria, a four-time astronaut who now leads the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, an industry group.
Is the relationship between NASA and private space about to sour?
Popular Mechanics (1/31): Funding constraints may jeopardize efforts by NASA to establish competing commercial crew transportation services to launch astronauts to the International Space Station. Three companies are partnered in the endeavor with NASA currently. New contract awards contemplated this year could lower the participation to one company prior to test flights.
Suborbital
Fall 24 miles to Earth with Felix Baumgartner in new space-jump video
Los Angeles Time (2/2): GoPro cameras afford new video of Felix Baumgartner’s near 128,000 foot parachute fall to Earth on Oct. 14, 2012.
Major Space Related Activities for the Week
Major space policy events for February 2-7, 2014
Spacepolicyonline.com (2/2): A look at major space policy activities scheduled for the week ahead. In Washington, the U.S. House and Senate are in session this week.
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