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Today’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. Space advocacy groups make Washington an early 2015 gathering spot to discuss U.S. space budgets and objectives. Living on Mars. NASA’s Dawn probe closes in on mysterious bright spots on large asteroid Ceres. Stars buzzed the sun long ago, say scientists. Mojawk Guy talks mission to Europa. Comet Lovejoy defies fading forecast. NOAA’s new DSCOVR solar sentry could save us billions. Russian supply ship launches, rendezvous with the International Space Station on Tuesday. Assembly of new Stratolaunch airborne rocket launch platform nears halfway point. Luxembourg’s SES selects Boeing for electrically propelled communications satellite.
Human Deep Space Exploration
Space groups planning new and revived advocacy activities
Space News (2/17): Washington serves as the focal point for a round of space advocate activities planned for this month and next, as Congress deliberates on the 2016 budget. They include the upcoming Pioneering Space National Summit and a revival of March Storm, a coordinated effort to provide lawmakers with information on space initiatives.
What would it be like to live on Mars?
Space.com (2/17): Many wonder at the answer. Mars experiences seasonal change like the Earth. But the southern hemisphere is both colder and hotter than the northern hemisphere. Temperatures range from minus 195 at the poles to a more pleasant 65 at the equator. Exposure to radiation is a concern.
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
Mysterious bright spots seen in new photos of dwarf planet Ceres
NBCNews.com (2/17): NASA’s Dawn spacecraft closes in on the large asteroid Ceres and the mysterious bright spots that dots surface. The spacecraft may soon get to the bottom of their mysterious source.
Alien star missed us by less than a light-year, scientists say
NBC News.com (2/17): A pair of stars, a red dwarf star and its brown dwarf companion, dodged close to the sun 70,000 years ago, according to a new study published in the Astrophysical Letters Journal.
Next stop, Europa: Q&A with NASA’s ‘Mohawk Guy’ Bobak Ferdowsi
Space.com (2/17): Bobak Ferdowsi, aka the NASA Curiosity Mission’s Mojawk Guy, discusses a future U.S. mission to Europa, the ice and ocean covered moon of Jupiter, a place scientists believe may host conditions favorable for some form of life.
Sky and Telescope (2/17): Comet Lovejoy remains a promising object for observation with telescopes and binoculars. The comet is fading more slowly than forecast. But soon more moonlight is coming that will make the comet more difficult to observe.
Keeping America safe — from a million miles away
The Huffington Post (2/17): The recently launched DSCOVR mission satellite promises to become a valuable space sentry for solar activity with the potential to unleash expensive global damage, writes Kathryn Sullivan, the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere. “In an increasingly wired world, space weather poses serious risk to essential, yet vulnerable infrastructure,” she writes. The infrastructure includes power grids and telecommunications networks.
Low Earth Orbit
Soyuz rocket boosts Russian cargo craft to space station
Spaceflightnow.com (2/17): Russia’s 58 Progress cargo capsule launched and docked with the International Space Station on Tuesday. The delivery included just over three tons or propellant and other supplies for the six member crew.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
Paul Allen’s mammoth Stratolaunch aircraft nearly half completed
Puget Sound Business Journal (2/17): Stratolaunch’s giant twin fuselage aircraft designed to launch rockets with satellites from 30,000 feet is nearing the halfway point in its assembly. The Huntsville, Ala., based company’s first launch from the jet engine powered flying platform is planned for 2016.
SES taps Boeing to build all-electric propulsion satellite
Spaceflight Insider (2/17): Luxembourg’s SES chooses Boeing to assemble a satellite with electric propulsion for in-flight entertainment and WiFi.
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