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Today’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. The chair of NASA’s U.S. House appropriations panel calls on the agency to develop interstellar propulsion technologies. Thursday snow storm prompts Congress to hold off on space hearings. NASA selects touchdown site for InSight, the next U.S. Mars lander. NASA’s Curiosity rover is temporarily sidelined by a weekend electrical short. NASA’s Dawn probe nears encounter with large asteroid Ceres thanks to novel xenon ion propulsion system. Europe’s Rosetta probes snags dramatic photos during risky close encounter with Comet 67P/ChuryumovGerasimenko. Astronomers find planet in four star system. Without Russia as a partner, the International Space Station is history, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden informs congressional appropriators. U.S. seeks closer ties with India on space security matters. Indiana will celebrate 50th anniversary of Gemini 3 flight with native son Gus Grissom and John Young. NASA’s forerunner, NACA, marks 100th anniversary with support of the Smithsonian Institution’s Air and Space Museum. United Launch Alliance will ask public to vote on name for new rocket. Orbital ATK says next Antares International Space Station re-supply mission launching is a year away.
Human Deep Space Exploration
Bolden reassures appropriators on Russia; Culberson wants interstellar propulsion
Spacepolicyonline.com (3/4): U.S. Rep. John Culberson, chair of the U.S. House appropriations panel with jurisdiction over NASA, calls for the agency to set its sights on an interstellar propulsion system that would enable transportation to Earth-like planets in distant solar systems. In his testimony, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden urged lawmakers to provide $1.2 billion for the Commercial Crew Program, which is working with Boeing and SpaceX to develop crew transportation services to and from the International Space Station. Full funding for 2016 will ease U.S. reliance on Russia for orbital transportation by 2017, Bolden said.
Congress will not convene tomorrow because of impending snowstorm, hearings postponed
Spacepolicyonline.com (3/4): Congressional hearings on space policy related matters, scheduled for Thursday in Washington, are cancelled because of major snow storm.
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
NASA picks prime target for 2016 InSight Mars lander
NBC News (3/4): NASA’s next Mars lander mission, InSight, will aim for a touchdown at Elysium Planitia, a flat equatorial region of the red planet. The mission, in part, will study Martian seismic activity. InSight’s launching from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., is a year away.
Curiosity rover on Mars benched after a short circuit
Washington Post (3/4): An electrical short was detected over the past weekend, while Curiosity was involved in a rock drilling activity. Curiosity is out of action for at least a few days, while NASA engineering experts troubleshoot.
How an ion drive helped NASA’s Dawn probe visit dwarf planet Ceres
Space.com (3/4): The gravity field of large asteroid Ceres will take hold of NASA’s Dawn spacecraft on Friday. Launched in 2007, Dawn relied on a xenon fueled ion propulsion system for the long journey.
Rosetta probe snaps awesome comet photo in harrowing close encounter
Space.com (3/4): The European Space Agency’s Rosetta probe transmits photo evidence of its risky close-up pass of the comet Comet 67P/ChuryumovGerasimenko. The pass brought Rosetta within four miles of the comet on Feb. 14.
Massive exoplanet evolved in extreme 4-star system
Space.com (3/4): Astronomers detect a huge alien planet, 10 times as large as Jupiter, circling a four star system. The system, 30 Ani, is 16 light years from Earth.
Low Earth Orbit
NASA’s chief confirms it: Without Russia, Space Station lost
Houston Chronicle (3/4): Without Russia to provide transportation for astronauts to and from the International Space Station, the U.S. would have to retreat, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden testifies before a U.S. House appropriation panel on Wednesday.
NASA making plans for Russia’s secession from ISS
Space News (3/4): Russia is responsible for providing the six person International Space Station with propulsion. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden tells U.S. House appropriators the U.S. is looking at a replacement for Russia’s Zarya propulsion module, without providing details. Recently, Russia announced plans to break away from the space station partnership in 2024. Russian modules would be pulled away to provide the basis for a new independent Russian space station.
U.S. wary of China, seeks deeper ties with India in space sector
Outlook India (3/5): Frank Rose, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control, Verification and Compliance, spells out the threat posed by China to U.S. national security space assets. Rose opened a visit to India with a call for closer ties between the U.S. and India on space matters ahead of the first Indo-U.S. Space Security Dialogue.
State park to mark Grissom’s Gemini 3 flight
Indiana Journal Gazette (3/4): Mercury astronaut Gus Grissom led NASA’s Gemini 3 mission on Mar. 23, 1965. Gemini 3 circled the Earth three times with John Young at Grissom’s side. Grissom’s hometown of Mitchell, Ind., will celebrate the flight’s 50th anniversary.
Our spaceflight heritage: NASA celebrates 100 years of NACA with symposium
Spaceflight Insider (3/4): Before there was U.S. spaceflight, there was the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, NASA’s forerunner. For two days this week, NASA sponsored a Washington symposium recognizing NACA’s contributions.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
ULA crowd sourcing the name of its next rocket
Space News (3/4): United Launch Alliance plans to transition from the venerable Delta 4 and Atlas 5 to a new commercial launch vehicle — the Next Generation Launch System. The Denver-based company plans to submit a short list of employee suggested names for the new rocket to the public for an online vote. Balloting could begin later this month.
Orbital ATK’s Thompson on Antares upgrade: ‘A year from now, will be the first launch’
Washington Business Journal (3/3): Orbital ATK plans to launch its first upgraded Antares rocket a year from now on a resupply mission to the International Space Station, according to company CEO David Thompson. Changes to Antares are in response to an Oct. 28 launch pad explosion that halted the company’s third re-supply mission to the orbiting science lab.
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