To subscribe to CSExtra via RSS feed click here.
If you would prefer to receive CSExtra in e-mail format, e-mail us at Info@space.com with the word SUBSCRIBE in the subject line.
Today’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. Where next for human explorers? Global interest and cost constraints appear to point to the moon. Space vet Cleon Lacefield guides Orion development for Lockheed Martin. Star Trek actress Nichelle Nichols draws diversity to NASA. Europe’s Rosetta spacecraft nears Wednesday encounter with distant comet. China, France team for space astronomy mission. Explore Mars raises funds to search for subsurface life on the red planet. NASA’s Curiosity rover looks to third year on Mars with Mt. Sharp in view. U.S., Europe, and India prepare for comet Siding Spring’s October advance on Mars. A visit to California’s Mt. Wilson Observatory reveals roots of modern cosmology. Russian scientist’s hopeful Western sanctions will not destroy international space partnerships. Perseid meteor shower grows more intense. SpaceX says “yes” to Texas for new commercial rocket launch complex. International Launch Services cuts staff; Russian Proton failures a factor.
Human Deep Space Exploration
The Space Review (8/4): With the National Research Council’s recent report on the future of U.S. human exploration as context, essayist Eric Hedman contends NASA’s near term focus should be on the moon because of strong international interest and affordability. Hedman is chief technology officer of Logic Design Corporation. The NRC’s Pathways to Exploration, released June 4, was in response to a request from Congress in 2010.
Profile | Cleon Lacefield. Orion Program Manager, Lockheed Martin Space Systems
Space News (8/4): Space vet Lacefield has guided Orion’s development by Lockheed Martin since the beginning. His approach to the engineering challenges followed him from his days as a NASA flight controller in Houston. He will soon retire after a four decade career.
Star Trek legend who became NASA’s ‘secret weapon’
CNN (8/4): Actress Nichelle Nichols, who played Star Trek’s glamorous communications officer, Lt. Uhura, over a 25-year span, has shaped the way many felt about spaceflight. Her acting talents and personal convictions helped to bring women and minorities to NASA.
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
After a decade, comet-chasing spacecraft nearly there
NPR (8/4): The European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft nears an historic encounter with Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Never before has a spacecraft spent quality time with a comet. Their trek around the sun together begins with a rendezvous on Wednesday.
China, France join forces on astronomy mission
Space News (8/4): France and China agree to prepare a gamma ray satellite observatory for a 2021 launching.
The ExoLance project and the search for life on Mars
The Space Review (8/4): Explore Mars, Inc., is launching the ExoLance Project, a bid to detect the presence of subsurface life on Mars. The instruments will be configured as secondary payloads for a range of Mars missions and plummet to the surface of the planet at multiple locations, writes Joe Cassady, who serves on the Explore Mars board of directors and as executive director for space at Aerojet Rocketdyne.
After 2 years on Mars, NASA’s Curiosity rover aims for huge mountain
Space.com (8/4): The intrepid rover touched down dramatically two years ago this week. Now, Curiosity is eyeing the base of Mt. Sharp, a 3.4 mile high rise that could hold important clues about past habitable conditions on Mars. Already, the mission has documented past habitable environments on the red planet. But when and for how long?
A celestial traveler closes on Mars
New York Times (8/4): Comet Siding Springs will sweep close to Mars on Oct. 19. NASA and the space agencies of Europe and India are taking measures to protect the spacecraft that are or will be circling the red planet when Siding Springs approaches within 82,000 miles.
L.A.’s Mt. Wilson Observatory inspires the future of cosmology
Los Angeles Times (8/4): To many, the venerable Mt. Wilson Observatory is where modern cosmology got its start. Mt. Wilson advanced discoveries that pointed to a universe much larger than the Milky Way galaxy and that distant star systems were speeding away as part of a cosmic expansion.
Low Earth Orbit
Russian scientists hope Western sanctions will not impede space projects
Ria Novosti (8/4): In Moscow, scientist express hope that Western sanctions imposed in response to Russian interference in Ukraine will not become an obstacle to space partnerships.
Space Weather.com (8/4): The display of meteors increases as the Earth moves into the debris left by Comet Swift-Tuttle. The annual Perseid meteor shower is among the most anticipated each year.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
Texas, SpaceX announce spaceport deal near Brownsville
Houston Chronicle (8/4): State of Texas joins California based SpaceX in announcing plans for a Brownsville area commercial space port. SpaceX chose the South Texas location over competing sites in Georgia, California, Virginia, Alaska, Puerto Rico and Florida. Launches of satellites and potentially spacecraft for NASA could begin in 2015.
Struggling ILS shedding 25 percent of staff
Space News (8/4): International Launch Services announces a staffing cut as estimates for launches of Russia’s Proton rocket slip from seven to eight to three to four annually. Proton performance issues, Western sanctions over Russian actions in Ukraine and market conditions contributed to the action, Space News reports.
Inmarsat says Proton delay will hold up new network
Reuters (8/5): British satellite company Inmarsat says Proton difficulties will delay launch of new Global Express satellite communications network.
Brought to you by the Coalition for Space Exploration, CSExtra is a daily compilation of space industry news selected from hundreds of online media resources. The Coalition is not the author or reporter of any of the stories appearing in CSExtra and does not control and is not responsible for the content of any of these stories. The content available through CSExtra contains links to other websites and domains which are wholly independent of the Coalition, and the Coalition makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or authenticity of the information contained in any such site or domain and does not pre-screen or approve any content. The Coalition does not endorse or receive any type of compensation from the included media outlets and is not responsible or liable in any way for any content of CSExtra or for any loss, damage or injury incurred as a result of any content appearing in CSExtra. For information on the Coalition, visit www.space.com or contact us via e-mail at Info@space.com.
