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Today’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. U.S. Senate takes up NASA’s 2015 proposed budget, after House okays $17.9 billion that keeps U.S. human deep space exploration plans on track. NASA’s Orion capsule receives heat shield for first unpiloted test launch. Op-ed urges moon/Mars factions to unite. Japan backs multi-national human Mars mission planning. NASA’s Morpheus advances planetary lander technologies. NASA to test giant inflatable parachute for Mars landings. Newly discovered asteroid passes close on Tuesday. Satellite captures solar explosion. Ideal solar system could include 60 Earths. Salad nutrients coming to the International Space Station? Moscow, Washington at odds over GPS ground stations. Three U.S. companies reach milestone in NASA efforts to establish a U.S. human commercial space transportation capability. Commercial crew could be a key to NASA’s deep space exploration aspirations. Users, funding come together for U.S. alternative to Russia’s RD-180 rocket engine. Lockheed Martin acquires Astrotech. A look at major space related activities scheduled for the week ahead.
NASA 2015 Budget
NASA budget debate shifts to the Senate
Spacepolitics.com (6/1): Congressional action on NASA’s 2015 budget now shifts to the U.S. Senate, following action last week in the House. A markup is set for Tuesday, and the Senate is expected to match or exceed overall House spending, though the priorities are likely to differ.
5 takeaways from Friday’s House vote on NASA’s new budget
Huntsville Times (5/30): The U.S. House passes a $17.9 billion NASA budget for 2017 early May 30, a total that reflects $435 million more than the White House requested, advances the Space Launch System heavy lift rocket and Orion crew capsule for human deep space exploration and provides the agency with stability for its contractors. The U.S. Senate acts next.
House spending bill includes modest increase for NASA
Florida Today (5/30): U.S. House approves $17.9 billion NASA spending measure for 2015. Measure includes a record $785 million — but $63 million less than White House seeks — for the Commercial Crew Program. The mismatch may jeopardize plans to nurture more than one private sector crew transportation service.
Coalition for Space Exploration (5/30): Coalition applauds House action on NASA’s 2015 budget and efforts to keep U. S. human deep space exploration on track.
Human Deep Space Exploration
World largest heat shield attached to NASA’s Orion crew capsule for crucial Fall 2014 test flight
Universe Today (5/31): Preparations for Exploration Flight Test-1, the first unpiloted test flight of NASA’s Orion capsule, advance with installation of heat shield at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Launch set for later this year.
Opinion: The war of the worlds: To the Moon or Mars
Spaceflight Insider (6/2): Andrew Chaikin’s op-ed suggests human lunar development offers the best course to Mars. Opposing factions that support the moon versus Mars, should unite to bolster political support and funding for government backing, he writes.
Japan eyes early manned mission to Mars
Asahi Shunbum, of Japan (5/31): Science ministry of Japan intends to host a ministerial-level international conference, scheduled for 2016, to discuss multi-national human missions to explore Mars. Tokyo hopes to seek the participation of various countries and lead the discussion for an agreement, the newspaper reports.
Project Morpheus concludes successful flight test campaign with spectacular night launch
America Space (6/1): Morpheus, NASA’s prototype for a precision autonomous planetary lander for future human as well as robotic missions, completed a six-month-long formal test flight campaign at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center last week. The lander soared to an altitude of more than 800 feet in darkness before touching down on a simulated lunar scape. A data analysis session is under way, and there is a possibility of additional test flights.
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
NASA to test giant Mars parachute on Earth
Associated Press via Washington Post (6/1): Reaching the Martian surface with heavy cargoes for ambitious robotic and human missions will require larger parachutes. NASA is poised Tuesday to test an inflatable monster of a parachute in Hawaii — if the weather cooperates. Success may require multiple tests, the agency cautions.
Asteroid 2014 KH39 Zips Just 1.1 LD from Earth – Watch it LIVE June 3
Universe Today (6/1): Discovered May 24, asteroid 2014KH39 will zip past the Earth on Tuesday. At 72 feet in length, this new discovery is slightly larger than the asteroid that exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia in February 2013. 2014 KH39 will pass just beyond the orbit of the moon during its closest approach.
Amazing NASA video shows the sun erupting in unprecedented detail
Los Angeles Times (5/31): U.S. scientists capture a major solar eruption on video. This coronal mass ejection was headed toward Venus, not Earth.
Ultimate solar system could contain 60 Earths
New Scientist (5/30): Ultimate theoretical solar system supports 60 Earth like planets without violating laws of physics, according to French astrophysicist.
Low Earth Orbit
Salads in space? Astronauts try growing own veggies
Orlando Sentinel (5/31): Aboard the International Space Station, astronauts begin to grow salad vegetables starting with lettuce. If the agency’s VEGGIE experiment works, station dwellers may add tomatoes, strawberries and basil to their fresh food options. The first taste of fresh food may come later this year after testing for microbes.
In GPS battle, Russia sets restrictions of its own
New York Times (6/1): Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin announces restrictions on U.S. Global Positioning System base stations. They come in response to U.S. refusal to allow GLONASS stations on U.S. territory. The declaration is another sign of souring relations between Washington and Moscow over Russian activities in Ukraine and the granting of asylum to Edward Snowden, the Times reports.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
Sierra Nevada, Boeing, SpaceX hit first benchmark on path to fly crews to ISS
Denver Post (6/1): With the first phase of NASA flight certification complete for Louisville, Colo., based Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser, Houston-based Boeing’s CST-100 and Hawthorne, Calif., based SpaceX’s Dragon, NASA is ready to move to the final phase with a contract selection later this year that will include flights to the International Space Station.
NASA and industry complete first phase to certify new Crew Transportation Systems
NASA (5/30): Commercial Crew Program laying groundwork to re-establish a U.S. human launch capability lost when NASA’s space shuttle fleet was retired in mid-2011.
Universe Today (5/30): NASA’s administrator envisions commercial activities in Earth orbit beyond the International Space Station based on transportation systems fostered by the space agency’s Commercial Crew Program and its private sector partners.
Stakeholders rally behind new U.S. rocket engine
Spaceflightnow.com (6/1): The U.S. Congress, Pentagon reach consensus in recent weeks that the United States can no longer rely on Russian rocket engines to launch the military’s national security satellites. The focus is a domestic alternative to Russian’s RD-180 rocket engine imported for use by the Atlas V. Still to be resolved: details on funding, production and timing of introduction.
Lockheed Martin to acquire Astrotech for $61 million
Space News (5/30): Astrotech Space Operations, of Titusville, Fla. specializes in prelaunch processing of satellites and has supported more than 300 missions since its 1981 founding.
Major Space Related Activities for the Week
Major space related activities for the week of June 2-6, 2014
Spacepolicyonline.com (6/1): The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee will begin its markup of a 2015 NASA spending bill this week. The National Research Council releases its latest report on the future of U.S. human space exploration.
Astronomers to descend upon Boston for cosmic conference this week
Space.com (6/1): More than 1,000 gather in Boston this week for the American Astronomical Society meeting to discuss the latest on the search for alien planets, dark energy, dark matter and other hot topics in astronomy.
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