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Today’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. The full U.S. Senate takes up NASA’s 2015 budget, with a note of objection from the White House over pending commercial crew constraints. Engineers measure the vibro acoustic forces of the Space Launch System heavy lift rocket. An inside look at SLS development and testing. Five years after their space report, some members of the Augustine Commission size up NASA’s human space objectives: cost is still a concern. NASA fashions a space suit for Mars. WFIRST tailored to search for alien worlds. Progress on Dark Matter deepens mystery. A Pluto primer. CASIS taps a general to chair. Russia selects a half-dozen new cosmonauts. Espresso in space, the step by step process. White House urges House to forgo $220 million Defense spending on U.S. replacement for Russia’s RD-180 rocket engine; president sees public private alternative. With NASA commercial crew decision looming, Boeing issues layoff notices. Boeing, Sierra Nevada and SpaceX are vying for contracts to resume U.S. human launches. California Science Center, Endeavour provide backdrop for new TV science fiction series premier.
NASA 2015 Budget
Senate begins debate on FY2015 appropriations bill for NASA, NOAA, FAA space office
Spacepolicyonline.com (6/17): The U.S. Senate version of NASA’s 2015 budget is packaged in an appropriations “minibus” for consideration this week. The full House has already passed its version. The White House expressed opposition to language in the Senate bill that would require partners in NASA’s Commercial Crew Program to disclose financial information, though they are competing for fixed priced contracts.
White House: NASA bill would raise costs, cause delays
USA Today (6/17): White House issues warning that language in the Senate version of NASA’s 2015 budget could slow efforts by the Commercial Crew Program to contract with U.S. private companies for astronaut transportation to the International Space Station. The wording seeks new financial disclosures for companies awarded fixed price contract for the launch services.
Human Deep Space Exploration
NASA turning down the volume on rocket noise
YouTube (6/17): At NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, engineers ignite a five percent scale model of NASA’s Space Launch System heavy lift rocket to assess vibro acoustic forces. The SLS is in development to start future U.S. explorers on missions of deep space exploration.
A rare look at the space shuttle’s successor Space Launch System
WTVY.com, of Alabama (6/17): NASA and its contractor team make progress with development of the Space Launch System heavy lift rocket. The video offers a look at the testing and assembly efforts now underway in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.
Five years after Augustine: How does the panel feel about NASA’s Space Launch System?
Houston Chronicle (6/17): As U.S. administrations transitioned from presidents Bush to Obama, a blue ribbon panel examined the nation’s direction in space. The panel urged a flexible path supported by available resources — if not a spending increase. The newspaper checks in with some members of the Augustine Commission, the study panel chaired by veteran aerospace executive Norm Augustine. They find NASA in much the same position.
NASA’s futuristic spacesuits made for Mars walkers
Space News (6/17): NASA’s New Z series space suit, developed by Delaware-based ILC Dover, is fashioned to enhance mobility on planetary surfaces — the walking kind of mobility.
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
NASA dark-energy mission could spot 3,000 new alien planets
Space News (6/17): WFIRST, or the Wide-field Infrared Survey Telescope, could be ready for launching by NASA in the mid-2020s to carry on with the planet search currently underway with the Kepler Space Telescope. However, WFIRST would employ an exotic technique called gravitational micro lensing for planet detection.
Discovery.com (6/17): Perched outside the International Space Station, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer is slowly discovering the role of dark matter in the maturing of the universe. Principal Investigator Sam Ting, of MIT, explains the progress at a space station research gathering in Chicago this week.
Pluto: Doorway to the stars (1962)
Wired.com (6/17): A primer on Pluto, the July 2015 destination for the U.S. New Horizons’ spacecraft.
Low Earth Orbit
CASIS Board of Directors selects Lt. General James A. Abrahamson as Chairman
CASIS (6/17): The Florida nonprofit that facilities use of the U.S. National Laboratory portions of the International Space Station chooses Abramson as board chair.
Russia appoints six new cosmonauts, sole female candidate not among them
Collectspace.com (6/17): Russia selects a half-dozen new cosmonauts. Two others did not complete the basic training course, one of them the only woman in the original eight member training class.
Rocket fuel: How astronauts will brew the perfect espresso in space
Space.com (6/17): A step by step look at the brewing process that will accompany an espresso machine headed to the International Space Station early next year. The innovative equipment has other uses as well.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
Obama Administration opposes new money for RD-180 replacement engine
Spacepolicyonline.com (6/17): The White House urged the U.S. House Tuesday not to appropriate $220 million in Defense funds to begin the development of a domestic version of Russia’s RD-180 rocket engine. Russia has threatened to stop the export of the RD-180 to the U.S. in response to Washington economic sanctions imposed after Crimea. The White House said it was examining other development options, including public private partnerships.
Boeing preparing layoff notices in case of Commercial Crew loss
Space News (6/17): Boeing, a partner in NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, prepares for possible layoffs in Houston and Florida as the space agency nears a decision on contracts for the final development of crew transport services to the International Space Station. Others vying for the work are Sierra Nevada and SpaceX. For budgetary reasons it’s unclear whether NASA can selected more than one contractor in late August or September.
Halle Berry launches ‘Extant’ at California Science Center premiere
Variety (6/17): The California Science Center and the NASA shuttle orbiter Endeavour provided the backdrop for the premier of a new CBS science fiction TV series, Extant, with stars that include Halle Berry.
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