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Today’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. U.S. Congress to reconvene next week, with action on a 2015 spending plan a priority. NASA’s Orion due small changes to the heat shield after Dec. 4 test flight. China fueling its lunar mission ambitions. NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover makes key mineral discoveries. Europe braces for first ever comet landing. International Space Station partners speak favorably of a 2020-24 operations extension. Orbital Sciences identifies Russian rocket engine as likely cause of Antares loss, seeks alternative launch vehicle for near term International Space Station cargo obligations. Surviving SpaceShipTwo pilot Peter Siebold defied the odds, say experts.
NASA’s 2015 budget
Republicans seize control of Senate, add to House Majority
Spacepolicyonline.com (11/5): After a lengthy adjournment for this week’s congressional mid-term elections, the U.S. House and Senate are scheduled to reconvene next week. The lame duck session is likely to focus on an overdue 2015 budget. The federal government is operating under a budget continuing resolution that expires Dec. 11. So far, NASA is in line for a budget increase.
Human Deep Space Exploration
Engineers recommend changes to Orion heat shield
Spaceflightnow.com (11/5): Lockheed Martin plans changes to manufacturing processes for the Orion capsule heat shield, changes in response to the assembly of the first shield for Exploration Flight Test-1. EFT-1, scheduled for a Dec. 4 launch and landing, will mark the first uncrewed flight of the capsule and provide engineers with an opportunity to evaluate the thermal protection system. NASA and Lockheed Martin are developing Orion to carry future human explorers on missions of deep space exploration.
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
China’s 1st round-trip moon shot sets stage for bigger lunar feats
Space.com (11/5): China intends to use data gathered from its recent lunar mission to launch the country’s second moon lander and rover. A Chinese test capsule returned to Earth Oct. 31/Nov. 1 after looping around the moon. The flight sets the stage for the Chang’e 4 mission lander and a test of hardware for a 2017 robotic lunar sample return mission, Chang’e 5.
Curiosity finds tantalizing mineral clues for Mars habitability
Space.com (11/5): NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover makes a key mineral discovery at its first drill site at the base of Mount Sharp on Mars. The find has possible links to water and microbial activity on the red planet.
The surreal task of landing on a comet
Scientific American (11/5): The European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission is poised for a first as it orbits close to the distant comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. On Nov. 12, the Rosetta spacecraft will dispatch a small lander, Philae, to touchdown on a carefully selected landing site on the comet.
Low Earth Orbit
U.S. desire to keep ISS going ‘noted’ for the record
Space News (11/5): At a Paris meeting this week, the major partners in the U.S. led International Space Station program express a desire to operate the six person orbital laboratory until 2024, though without making commitments. Some member countries are having financial difficulty meeting the current goal of 2020. The U.S. proposed the 2024 extension earlier this year.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
Orbital drops AJ-26 after failure, looking for alternate launcher to ISS
Aviation Week & Space Technology (11/5): Orbital Sciences plans to replace the Soviet era rocket engine whose failure is blamed for the Oct. 28 post launch breakup of an Antares rocket. The two stage rocket was carrying the Cygnus cargo capsule with supplies for the International Space Station. Orbital will look to another launch services company to meet its commercial resupply obligations to the six person station while it returns Antares to flight.
Orbital to accelerate upgraded Antares, use other vehicles for Cygnus
Space News (11/5): Orbital Sciences Corp. announces latest measures in response to the Oct. 28 loss of a two stage Antares launch vehicle moments after it lifted off on a re-supply mission to the International Space Station. The company plans to find a substitute launch vehicle for its space station obligations until it can return the Antares to flight. Orbital also plans to find a replacement for the Russian built engine whose malfunction is believed to blame for the fiery breakup.
Soviet-era engine is blamed for Antares rocket explosion
New York Times (11/5): Orbital Sciences points to a Soviet manufactured rocket engine as the cause of its Oct. 28 Antares rocket loss, confirming early suspicions. A turbopump was identified as the failed component. The blast claimed about 5,000 pounds of equipment headed for the International Space Station. There were no injuries.
Suborbital
Virgin Galactic pilot defied the odds to survive crash
Los Angeles Times (11/5): Test pilot Peter Siebold defied the odds in surviving the high altitude breakup of SpaceShipTwo over California’s Mojave Desert on Oct. 31, say flight veterans. Siebold was hospitalized with shoulder injuries. His copilot Michael Alsbury did not survive the crash, which remains under investigation.
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