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Today’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. An op-ed urges the human settlement of space. NASA calls on the public for ideas to make deep space homey, less risky. Why Mars matters. NASA’s Orion spacecraft opens new vistas without more mass. Stirring novel “The Martian” gathers popular following. Alien planet rocked by volcanism. Astronomers find most distant galaxy yet. Evidence for black holes soars. Auroral activity on the rise. Russia’s uncontrolled Progress resupply capsule to the International Space Station could re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere May 8. Espresso is a hit among the International Space Station astronauts. NASA’s Commercial Crew Program plans a crucial launch pad abort test at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday.
Human Deep Space Exploration
Op-ed | We must be our own Kennedy
Space News (5/5): Nothing less than the permanent human settlement of space is a worthy goal for the contemporary space community, writes Rick Tumlinson, of the Space Frontier Foundation and other pro-exploration enterprises. In an op-ed, he urges his constituency to look to themselves to achieve the objective, rather than wait for a JFK-like moment.
NASA wants your ideas for improving everyday life on Mars
NBCNews.com (5/5): On Tuesday, NASA issued a public challenge for ideas to enhance the lives of astronauts on future missions of deep space destinations, including Mars.
Business Insider, of India (5/5): From ensuring the survival of the human species to demonstrating global political and economic leadership, U.S. deep space exploration goals matter, according to an analysis of presentations under way at the Humans to Mars summit in Washington this week.
NASA’S Orion loses weight, gains new windows
Spaceflight Insider (5/5): NASA turns to acrylic plastic to deal with the challenges of installing windows on the Orion crew exploration capsule without adding unwanted mass nor exposing the capsule to a thermal threat. Orion is under development to start U.S. astronauts on missions of deep space exploration.
Andy Weir and his book ‘The Martian’ may have saved NASA and the entire space program
Washington Post (5/5): A personal muse on the life of an astronaut stranded on Mars,The Martian, climbs the best seller list.
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
Hell on super-Earth: Extreme exoplanet volcanism spied
Discovery.com (5/5): Super Earth 55 Cancrie, just 40 light year away, is ravaged by super volcanism, according to scientists who observed with NASA’s Spitzer space telescope.
This galaxy far, far away is the farthest one yet found
Space.com (5/5): The galaxy EGS-zs8-1 lies 13.1 billion light-years from Earth, according to the report. It was discovered with a combination of space observatories, including the Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer space telescope and the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii.
Astronomers measure distance to farthest galaxy yet
New York Times (5/5): Astronomers characterize a galaxy that formed just 670 million years after the theorized big bang 13.8 billion years ago. The early star system was large by Milky Way standards and growing fast for a galaxy of its age, say astronomers who report their findings in the Astrophysical Journal.
Best evidence yet that black holes exist
Sky and Telescope (5/5): Theory has been backed up by observations of M87, an elliptical galaxy whose super massive black hole is 6 billion times heavier than the sun. The view provided astronomers with indirect evidence of the dense object’s event horizon.
Spaceweather.com (5/6): The sun grows active, turning up high latitude auroral displays on the Earth and causing some radio interference.
Low Earth Orbit
Sputnik International, of Russia (5/6): Roscosmos, the Russian federal space agency, forecasts a May 8 re-entry for the Progress 59 resupply capsule that experienced difficulties as it separated from a Soyuz launch vehicle on April 28 with just over three tons of supplies for the International Space Station. Roscosmos promised further details on the location of the uncontrolled re-entry 24 hours ahead of the descent.
Espresso? Now the International Space Station is fully equipped
New York Times (5/4): Italy and Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti introduce espresso to the six person International Space Station. No complaints.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
Don’t blink: SpaceX crew escape demo will go by in a flash
Spaceflightnow.com (5/5): SpaceX’s crewed Dragon is poised to undergo a pad abort test at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday. The test is a milestone for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, an initiative to start commercial crew launch services to low Earth orbit destinations, including the International Space Station. The test window extends from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., EDT.
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