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Today’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. NASA’s upcoming Exploration Flight Test-1 launch expected to set U.S. on new course for human exploration. Texas lawmaker vows support for U.S. space leadership as he moves to chairmanship of House appropriations panel responsible for NASA. NASA prepares for new human exploration era with change of launch countdown clocks. James Webb Space Telescope to open new space vistas. Ground controllers unravel command problem with NASA’s Mars Maven mission. Curiosity Mars rover inspects base of Mount Sharp before climb. Who deserves credit for the discovery of the first Earth-like planet beyond the solar system? Scientists monitor changes in active sunspot. U.S., Russian, Italian crew ready for Sunday launch to the International Space Station. Ground teams ready new cloud sensor for the space station. China launches second satellite within 24 hours. European satellite operators praise action to develop Ariane 6.
Human Deep Space Exploration
NASA is building a sustainable ‘highway’ for unprecedented deep space exploration
Huffington Post (11/20): NASA’s Exploration Flight Test-1, scheduled for an early Dec. 4 lift off, will set the U.S. on a new heading, one that points to the human exploration of deep space, a course that picks up where the Apollo missions of the late 1960s and early 1970s left off. The two orbit unpiloted mission will enable engineers to check out NASA’s new Orion capsule, a spacecraft that could start explorers on missions to the asteroids and Mars, writes Dan Dumbacher, a former space agency official who teaches engineering at Purdue University.
Culberson to be next House C-J-S ‘Cardinal’
Roll Call (11/20): Congressman John Culberson, of Houston, will chair the U.S. House appropriations subcommittee responsible for NASA and National Science Foundation funding. Culberson vowed Thursday to support U.S. leadership in space. His support extends to funding of NASA’s Orion capsule, the Space Launch System heavy lift rocket and capabilities to resume the launch of U.S. astronauts aboard new domestic commercial launch vehicles.
Countdown clock retired, poised to move to Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
Spaceflightinsider.com (11/20): NASA is prepared to retire its iconic launch countdown clock as Exploration Flight Test-1 nears. The digital display that counted down space shuttle missions will be replaced with new flat screen electronics. The old clock will be preserved at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
How a super chilled telescope will look back at the dawn of the universe
Wired (11/20): Assembly of the James Webb Space Telescope is prepared to begin in December, Wired reports. After an October 2018 lift off aboard a European rocket, the JWST will travel to a region of space one million miles from Earth to begin observations of the light left by the first stars and galaxies. Astronomers also plan to scan the atmospheres of alien planets for signs of oxygen and water vapor.
Glitch sends latest NASA Mars orbiter into safe mode
Space News (11/20): NASA’s MAVEN Mars orbiter, which began circling the red planet in September, lapsed into “safe mode” this week. Ground control teams responded to a command timing issue that has temporarily interrupted a mission designed to study interactions between the sun and the Martian atmosphere.
Curiosity rover recons rocky base of Mars mountain (photos)
Space.com (11/20): NASA’s Curiosity rover continues its inspection of a rocky outcrop at the base of Mount Sharp in Mar’s Gale crater. Meanwhile, ground controllers are looking into difficulties with a laser soil and rock analyzer.
Wired (11/20): Who was the first to discover the exo-planet Gliese 667Cc, which could turn out to be the first Earth like planet outside our solar system?
NASA: Big sunspot is an odd one
USA Today (11/21): Scientists are monitoring a changing sun spot that recently produced a round of powerful solar flares.
Low Earth Orbit
All-Air Force crew from three nations ready for launch to Space Station (part 1)
America Space (11/20): NASA’s Terry Virts, Italy’s Samantha Cristoforetti and Russia’s Anton Shkaplerov are prepped to lift off late Sunday for the International Space Station to begin a five to six month stay. Their docking will restore the station’s crew to six person operations. All three hail from the air forces of their respective countries.
VIDEO: Expedition 42-43 mission preview
Spaceflightnow.com (11/21): Russia is scheduled to launch a multinational crew of three to the International Space Station on Sunday at 4:01 p.m., EST. The Soyuz capsule carrying NASA’s Terry Virts, Italy’s Samantha Cristoforetti and Russia’s Anton Shkaplerov is scheduled to dock with the station at 9:53 p.m. Their arrival will restore the orbiting lab to six person operations.
Roscosmos denies gas leaks on board ISS
ITAR TASS, of Russia (11/20): Russians deny presence of small amounts of Freon coolant within the International Space Station.
Lidar scanner to boost ISS Earth-observation role
Aviation Week & Space Technology (11/24): New lidar sensor will head for the International Space Station in December to study clouds and aerosols in the Earth’s atmosphere.
China launches Kuaizhou-2 in second launch within 24 hours
NASAspaceflight.com (11/21): New Kuaizhou-2 spacecraft placed in orbit will monitor natural disasters, according to China.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
Europe’s satellite operators urge swift development of Ariane 6
Space News (11/20): France and Germany earn praise from the European Satellite Operators Association for their decision to push forward with development of the Ariane 6 commercial launch vehicle. The decision keeps Europe competitive in the global launch services market.
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