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. The NASA/Lockheed Martin Orion crew exploration vehicle unpiloted launch was scrubbed for today because of an issue related to fill and drain valves on the Delta IV Heavy rocket. The next launch window opens Friday, Dec. 5 at 7:05 a.m. ET. Tomorrow’s weather does not look particularly favorable for the launch attempt with rain, clouds and winds as factors. Anticipation of the Orion capsule’s lift off on a four-and-a-half-hour test mission drew crowds to Central Florida and revived prospects for a new chapter in U.S. human space exploration. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden disclosed a November meeting with Chinese space leaders. Top House appropriator pledges support for robotic NASA planetary science missions, including a journey to Jupiter’s moon Europa. Concerned scientists, astronauts herald June 30 as Asteroid Day. Sierra Nevada Corp. continues pursuit of future commercial human space transportation to low Earth orbit.
Human Deep Space Exploration
NASA scrubs Orion launch for today
NPR (12/4): Orion, the crew exploration capsule under development by NASA and Lockheed Martin, was unable to lift off today following multiple delays due to high winds and a stuck liquid-oxygen drain valve on one or more of the Delta IV Heavy rocket booster engines. NASA will try again Friday morning at 7:05 a.m. ET.
NASA Administrator speaks about Orion test flight
Spaceflightnow.com (12/3): NASA Administrator Charles Bolden says Orion crucial to the nation’s future in space in in pre-launch interview at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
Houston Chronicle (12/3): Exploration Flight Test-1 offers opportunity for Houston, home to NASA’s Johnson Space Center, to revive its claim as Space City and to back another high-tech endeavor for a stronger economy. “There is no higher ground,” notes the Chronicle in a supportive editorial.
Air and Space Museum Magazine (12/3): NASA’s Apollo moon program set precedents for Orion. But much of the NASA/Lockheed Martin Exploration Flight Test-1 unpiloted test flight will carry its own drama and promise for future human deep space exploration.
U.S.S Anchorage to retrieve Orion capsule at sea
Associated Press via Houston Chronicle (12/3): The U.S.S. Anchorage was stationed in the Pacific Ocean southwest of San Diego, Calif., early Thursday to retrieve the unpiloted Exploration Flight Test-1 Orion capsule as it descends under parachute.
Next Orion flight to slip to 2018
Space News (12/3): Orion will likely not lift off on its second unpiloted test flight until 2018, when funding levels permit a lift off atop the new Space Launch System heavy lift rocket for a loop around the moon. Orion may carry astronauts for the first time in 2021 in another test flight of the SLS.
Hotels fill up for Orion launch
WKMG-TV (12/4): Along Central Florida’s Space Coast, hotels, motels and campgrounds fill up with those eager to see the launch of the NASA/Lockheed Martin Orion crew exploration capsule on an unpiloted four-and-a-half-hour test flight that will help to prepare the U.S. for future human missions of deep space exploration.
Drones and planes will live-track NASA’s Orion capsule launch
Live Science (12/3): Upon descent, NASA’s unpiloted Orion capsule will be tracked with airplane, drones and helicopters as it pops parachutes and splashes down in the Pacific Ocean southwest of San Diego, Calif.
Bolden meets human spaceflight Chief during China visit
Aviation Week & Space Technology (12/3): In November, the heads of the U.S. and Chinese space agencies met quietly in Beijing, with the okay of a once skeptical U.S. Congress. The two leaders spoke primarily on air traffic management. The two global powers, however, remain interested in one another’s plans for human space exploration, noted Charles Bolden, NASA’s administrator.
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
Rep. Culberson drops in to pledge planetary science support
Space News (12/3): In Washington, Houston congressman John Culberson joined a recent gathering hosted by the Planetary Society in support of NASA science missions. Culberson, an advocate for a search of life mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa, attended to express support. Culberson is in line to chair the House appropriations subcommittee with responsibility for NASA’s budget.
‘Asteroid Day’ to raise awareness of space rock threat
Space.com (12/3): Look to June 30, 2015, as Asteroid Day, an opportunity to raise awareness of the devastation that could accompany an impact with a near Earth object. The date will mark the 107th anniversary of the Tunguska impact over a heavily forested region of Siberia. Plans for the event were outlined at news briefings in the U.S. and England on Wednesday.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
Sierra Nevada Corp. completes Dream Chaser’s milestone 15A for prior phase of Commercial Crew
Spaceflight Insider (12/3): Sierra Nevada Corp. completes a development milestone in the reaction control system of its lifting body design for a NASA-nurtured commercial spacecraft that could transport U.S. astronauts to and from low Earth orbit. The company is appealing NASA’s September contract awards to Boeing and SpaceX for the final development of the CST-100 and crewed Dragon spacecraft.
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.