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Today’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. Apollo 11’s Buzz Aldrin urges U.S. leadership through Mars exploration. 2022 Mars orbiter could preview key NASA electric propulsion technologies for future human missions. NASA’s Dawn spacecraft closing in on giant asteroid Ceres and white spot mystery. Engineers troubleshoot Mars Curiosity short circuit. Very Large Telescope, of Chile, adds 3-D to Hubble Space Telescope deep space view. Manmade space debris a space community concern. NanoRacks overcomes International Space Station CubeSat deployer issues. Editorial: FAA can justify small budget increase to staff up Commercial Space Office to meet growing commercial space activity. United Launch Alliance plans Delta 4, Atlas 5 phase outs in favor of Next Generation Launch System. NASA looks at new International Space Station re-supply missions. Russia looks to Dec. 25 for first Vostochny Cosmodrome launching. Britain narrows candidate sites for commercial space port. World View Enterprises reaches test milestone in plans to offer high altitude balloon flights to tourists.
Human Deep Space Exploration
Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin lays out plan for Mars colonization in talk at CU-Boulder
Boulder Daily Camera, of Colorado (3/3): Apollo 11’s Buzz Aldrin urged Americans to take the lead in human space exploration with a mission to Mars. “America must be the world leader in human space flight,” the 85-year-old pioneering lunar explorer told a full house on the University of Colorado’s Boulder campus. “There is no other area that clearly demonstrates American innovation and enterprise than human space flight.”
NASA eyes ion engines for Mars orbiter launching in 2022
Spaceflightnow.com (3/3): The 2022 mission would introduce electric ion propulsion to a new orbiting Mars communications satellite. The new propulsion technology would serve as a pathfinder for a future robotic sample return and human missions.
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
Dawn spacecraft closes in on Ceres
Air and Space Museum Magazine (3/3): NASA’s Dawn spacecraft will fall under the gravitational influence of the large asteroid Ceres on Friday. It could be late April, however, before Dawn is close enough to address the mystery of the white spots.
NASA investigating short circuit on Mars rover Curiosity
Associated Press via ABC News (3/3): Engineers troubleshoot a short circuit on NASA’s Curiosity rover. The short occurred over the weekend during a rock drilling operation, forcing a suspension of robot arm activities. Curiosity has been exploring Gale Crater on Mars since August 2012.
Hundreds of galaxies seen in a new 3-D view of the universe
Science News (3/3): The Very Large Telescope in Chile takes a second look at a famous Hubble Space Telescope vista and comes away with a 3-D marvel.
Low Earth Orbit
Op-Ed | Space debris: Prevention, remediation or mitigation
Space News (3/3): Manmade orbital debris rank among the highest of concerns for the space community, writes Luca Rossettini, chief executive and co-founder of Italy’s D-Orbit. The recent breakup of a U.S. military weather satellite into 43 major fragments illustrates the concern, he writes.
ISS deploys two CubeSats following repairs to launcher
Spaceflight Insider (3/3): Two Planet Labs CubeSats were launched from the International Space Station’s Japanese Kibo module last Friday. Those and more CubeSats launched since verified repairs to NanoRacks’ commercial launch mechanism. The deployer experienced problems last August and early September. NanoRacks worked with NASA and the other space station partners to change the command system and introduce new latches.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
Editorial | FAA office needs every penny it can get
Space News (3/3): An editorial supports a small budget increase for more personnel in the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation to accommodate the growing U.S. commercial space activity.
ULA targets 2018 for Delta 4 phase-out, seeks relaxation of RD-180 ban
Space News (3/3): Denver based United Launch Alliance looks to changes in its Delta 4 and Atlas 5 lineup of launch services vehicles. Both will ultimately be replaced by the Next Generation Launch System.
NASA lines up four additional CRS missions for Dragon and Cygnus
NASASpaceflight.com (3/3): NASA is planning four additional missions from its original International Space Station Commercial Resupply Services providers, Orbital ATK and SpaceX. The launches would take place in 2017, while NASA implements a second round of resupply contracts.
First launch from Russia’s new Vostochny cosmodrome scheduled for December 25
TASS, of Russia (3/3): The new launch complex in Vostochny could host its first launch on Dec. 25, or with no more than a small change in date, according to the report.
Suborbital
British government narrows list of potential spaceport sites
Space News (3/3): Britain narrows to six the short list of candidate sites for a commercial space port, with a goal of an opening in 2018. Suborbital or air launched operations are envisioned.
Flight brings us closer to balloon-powered space tourism
Wired News (3/2): Tucson based World View Enterprises achieves a milestone demonstration of parafoil deployment. The test flight represents a step forward in World View’s goal of launching high altitude balloons that will take tourists high enough to witness the curvature of the Earth, the darkness of space.
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