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Today’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. NASA’s engineers plot next steps for Orion capsule after successful Dec. 5 flight test. The Marshall Space Flight Center’s Teresa Vanhooser is focused on a successful Space Launch System development. NASA’s deep space ambitions are currently outpacing resources, according to op-ed. Actor Leonard Nimoy’s death touches fans of Spock, space exploration. NASA’s Dawn spacecraft begins close encounter with asteroid Ceres this week. NASA’s Mars 2020 rover may not cache soil samples. Pluto bound New Horizons mission carries piece of SpaceShipOne. NASA space walkers Terry Virts and Barry Wilmore prepare International Space Station for U.S. commercial spacecraft dockings. NASA’s Scott Kelly, Russia’s Mikhail Kornienko prepare for one year stay on the International Space Station. Two Boeing built communications satellites with electric propulsion systems reach orbit Sunday night. Russia launches military satellite. U.S. military weather satellite breaks up. Rising demand for commercial use of some International Space Station facilities meet supply bottleneck. Details of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program begin to flow to NASA’s independent Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel. U.S. Air Force outlines plans for 28 spacecraft launches. A look at major space related activities planned for the week ahead.
Human Deep Space Exploration
Orion’s first flight was a success. Now what?
Houston Chronicle (2/27): The boost NASA received from Orion’s successful Dec. 5 unpiloted test flight will drive improvements to the capsule’s heat shield and new life support systems for the astronauts that will one day strap in. The next test flight of Orion, the capsule that is to one day start U.S. explorers on new missions of deep space exploration, is envisioned for 2017-18. Astronauts are to launch aboard an Orion capsule for the first time in 2021.
NASA’s extraordinary engineer Teresa Vanhooser on a meteoric launch to Mars
Forbes (2/27): At NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Vanhooser is dedicated to making the Space Launch System heavy lift rocket a reality. The SLS is a key part of NASA’s deep space exploration aspirations, both human and robotic.
The shifting politics of NASA’s astronaut program
Scientific American (2/27): NASA’s human space exploration aspirations are likely to out run funding for years to come, writes SA editor Lee Billings in an op-ed. The report responds to recent testimony presented to the U.S. Senate Space, Science and Competitiveness Subcommittee. Those who testified spoke of reaching Mars as a long term goal.
Time (2/27): Leonard Nimoy, the actor, died Friday at 83. His character, the enigmatic Spock from the Star Trek TV series, was a symbol of the hopes and dreams that accompany space exploration.
Leonard Nimoy’s legacy: Obama, astronauts pay tribute
Space.com (2/27): President Obama and U.S. astronauts are among those who mourned the death Friday of Leonard Nimoy, the actor behind Spock. Half Earthling, half Vulcan, the character Spock was a member of television’s Star Trek Enterprise crew.
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
NASA spacecraft arrives at dwarf planet Ceres this week
Space.com (3/1): Launched in 2007, NASA’s Dawn mission probe is on course to begin months of study at the major asteroid Ceres this week. It will be the second asteroid visit for Dawn, which reached the asteroid Vesta in 2011. Dawn is the first spacecraft to visit two planetary bodies in a single mission.
NASA’s Mars 2020 rover to dig-and-ditch its samples
Space News (2/27): NASA is altering plans for its 2020 Mars rover. Instead of caching samples of the Red Planet’s soil and rock for eventual return to Earth, the future rover will gather and leave samples at each region it visits for a future rover to cache, according to a key project scientist assigned to the mission.
NASA probe bound for Pluto carries piece of pioneering SpaceShipOne
Space.com (2/27): NASA’s New Horizons mission is closing in on July flyby of distant Pluto. The probe is carrying a small piece of SpaceShipOne, winner of the Ansari X-Prize in 2004 as the first private spacecraft to reach suborbital space twice within 14 days.
Low Earth Orbit
Astronauts install antennas for commercial crew capsules
CBS News via Spaceflightnow.com (3/1): Spacewalking U.S. astronauts Terry Virts and Barry “Butch” Wilmore installed antennas and extended communications cabling across the International Space Station over a 5 1/2 hour spacewalk on Sunday. It was their third spacewalk in eight days. The work is setting the stage for dockings by U.S. commercial spacecraft transporting astronauts to and from the orbiting science laboratory.
Next Space Station crew preparing for one year in space
Spaceflight Insider (2/28): In Russia, U.S. astronaut Scott Kelly and cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko prepare for the start of their one year stay aboard the International Space Station. They will join cosmonaut Gennady Padalka for the launch aboard a Soyuz rocket from Kazakhstan late Mar. 27, U.S. time.
Plasma-driven satellites launched from Cape Canaveral
Spaceflightnow.com (3/2): A pair of Boeing built communications satellites equipped with plasma drive propulsion systems were launched into orbit Sunday night from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., atop a Falcon 9 rocket. The satellites belong to Eutelsat and Asia Broadcast Satellite.
Russian military satellite separates from carrier rocket launched from Plesetsk
TASS, of Russia (2/27): The mission represents the first launching of a Russian spacecraft from Plesetsk this year.
20-year-old military weather satellite apparently exploded in orbit
Space News (2/27): The U.S. Air Force Space Command has acknowledged the apparent explosive loss of a polar orbiting weather satellite on Feb. 3. The weather sentry was launched in 1995 and assumed a backup roll in 2006.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
Space Station’s commercial users hitting bottlenecks
Space News (2/27): Interest in commercial uses of the International Space Station is growing, and so much so that getting hardware to the station on a timely schedule is proving difficult for some. Part of the problem stems from the temporary absence of NASA’s second commercial launch services provider, Orbital ATK. The company lost a Cygnus cargo vessel in an Oct. 28 launch pad explosion. Orbital’s recovery is planned for later this year. “NASA has been very good at meeting our requests, but we’re not getting all the up mass that we need,” said an executive with a company involved in CubeSat launches from the station.
NASA, safety panel say Commercial Crew information now flowing
Space News (2/27): Representatives of NASA’s independent Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel and NASA told a Congressional panel on Friday they are beginning to exchange information about the agency’s contracts with Boeing and SpaceX for the development of Commercial Crew Program spacecraft capable of launching astronauts to the International Space Station. In a report issued last month, the ASAP said NASA had not been forthcoming with development details that may influence the safety of the future spacecraft.
Exclusive: U.S. Air Force eyes 28 launches, shared investment for next rockets
Reuters via New York Times (2/28): The U.S. Air Force plans a major competition for nearly 30 spacecraft launches to end reliance on the import of Russian rocket engines, according to the report. A Feb. 18 request for proposals from launch services providers includes a due date for responses of Mar. 20.
Major Space Related Activities for the Week
Major space related activities for the week of March 2-6, 2015
Spacepolicyonline.com (3/1): In Washington, House appropriators will host a hearing on NASA’s proposed 2016 budget. NASA’s Dawn spacecraft reaches the major asteroid Ceres.
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