To subscribe to CSExtra via RSS feed click here.
If you would prefer to receive CSExtra in e-mail format, e-mail us at Info@space.com with the word SUBSCRIBE in the subject line.
Today’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. NASA’s Advisory Council suggests the space agency skip plans to encounter an asteroid with a robotic mission and proceed to the Martian environs instead. NASA’s top spaceflight officials says the agency will wait until the next presidential administration to select destinations beyond an asteroid in its efforts to reach Mars with human explorers. A work platform for NASA’s Space Launch System heavy lift rocket is delivered to the Kennedy Space Center. Apollo 13 anniversary spotlights NASA’s determination to avert a tragedy. Russia’s leadership, citizens back future space development. Europe’s Rosetta spacecraft pursues cautious scrutiny of Comet 67P. NASA invites the European Space Agency to join planned Europa mission. NASA’s Dawn mission at large asteroid Ceres soon offering best images ever. Twenty-fifth anniversary of Hubble Space Telescope launching accompanied by high expectations for its successor, the James Webb Space Telescope. NASA space walker Terry Virts provides GoPro views of the Earth from the International Space Station. Space Station cargo mission set to launch from Central Florida late Monday afternoon. U.S. Air Force X-37B space plane gets new May launch date. A look at major space related activities planned for the week ahead.
Human Deep Space Exploration
NAC adopts finding to redirect the Asteroid Redirect Mission — to Mars
Spacepolicyonline.com (4/10): NASA’s efforts to reach Mars with human explorers in the 2030s would be better served by a precursor mission that goes all the way to the Martian environs to demonstrate Solar Electric Propulsion, according to a finding late last week from the NASA Advisory Council. Currently, NASA intends to demonstrate the propulsion technology with a robotic mission to capture a boulder from an asteroid, as outlined in the agency’s planned Asteroid Redirect Mission.
NASA hopes Mars plans flexible enough to survive administrations
Space News (4/10): In sessions with the NASA Advisory Council at the conclusion of last week, top space agency space flight planners say they will wait on some key decisions about efforts to reach Mars with humans in the 2030s until the next presidential administration. Among those that could come around 2020 is where to target missions leading up to the landing of a human spacecraft on the Martian surface.
Work platform for NASA’s Space Launch System delivered to the VAB
Spaceflight Insider (4/12): The work platform trucked to the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center will permit work on the agency’s Space Launch System heavy lift rocket that is under development to start U.S. explorers on future missions of deep space exploration. The first SLS launch, an unpiloted test mission, is targeted for 2018. The first piloted test flight is planned for 2021.
Space News (4/11): Apollo 13 lifted off on the program’s third lunar landing 45 years ago last Saturday. Expectations of building on the successes of Apollo 11 and 12 soon screeched to a halt with an oxygen tank explosion. In an op-ed, author Michelle Evans examines the roots of the near disaster, the key personnel assigned to address it and how NASA turned near tragedy into triumph.
Russian premier calls space technology development top state priority
TASS, or Russia (4/12): In connection with the 54th anniversary of the first human spaceflight on Saturday, Russia’s Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev proclaimed the space technology enterprise a priority for his nation, according to the report. Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space with a single orbit of the Earth on April 11, 1961.
Despite recession, Russians’ support for space program high as ever
Moscow Times (4/11): Public support for space exploration in Russia remains high despite recession, according to pollsters. Forty percent say current government commitments are appropriate.
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
Rosetta keeps its distance from awakening comet
Spaceflightnow.com (4/12): European Space Agency controllers curtail, at least temporarily, the Rosetta spacecraft’s close up scrutiny of the Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko as a protective measure. The decision was made after debris from the comet confused the spacecraft’s navigation systems during a close pass in March, sending Rosetta into a temporary safe mode.
NASA invites ESA to build Europa piggyback probe
Spaceflightnow.com (4/10): NASA has asked the European Space Agency to join in a U.S.-led mission in formulation to Europa, the ice and ocean covered moon of Jupiter. Launching is planned for the mid-2020s.
At Ceres, NASA’s Dawn spacecraft reemerging into the light
Los Angeles Times (4/10): NASA’s Dawn Mission has settled into its new destination, the large asteroid Ceres. Images from navigation cameras used during the mission’s early encounter with Ceres should be unveiled within days. However, even better imagery from the spacecraft will be coming in late April.
25 years on: Hubble remains a sophisticated eye on space
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (4/12): The 25th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope’s launching is days away. Meanwhile, astronomers await the 2018 launching of Hubble’s successor, the even more capable James Webb Space Telescope.
Low Earth Orbit
Raw: GoPro camera captures astronaut spacewalks
Associated Press via USA Today (4/10): International Space Station commander Terry Virts provides views of the Earth he witnessed during a recent spacewalk.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
Caffeine high: Space Station getting Italian espresso maker
Associated Press via USA Today (4/12): The latest cargo mission to the International Space Station is planned to lift off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on Monday at 4:33 p.m., EDT. The SpaceX Falcon9/Dragon is loaded with about 4,000 pounds of supplies, including research equipment and spare parts for the station’s six person crew. Also aboard is an authentic Italian espresso machine.
Launch of secretive X-37B delayed until May 20
Spaceflight Insider (4/10): The next launching of the reusable unpiloted X-37B space plane from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., atop an Atlas 5 rocket moves to no sooner than May 20. While the primary payload is classified, the launcher is carrying a secondary CubeSat payload backed by the Planetary Society to demonstrate Light Sail technologies.
Major Space Related Activities for the Week
Major Space Related Activities for the week of April 12-17, 2015
Spacepolicyonline.com (4/12): The week ahead features the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs and cargo operations at the International Space Station. The U.S. House and Senate are back in session.
Brought to you by the Coalition for Space Exploration, CSExtra is a daily compilation of space industry news selected from hundreds of online media resources. The Coalition is not the author or reporter of any of the stories appearing in CSExtra and does not control and is not responsible for the content of any of these stories. The content available through CSExtra contains links to other websites and domains which are wholly independent of the Coalition, and the Coalition makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or authenticity of the information contained in any such site or domain and does not pre-screen or approve any content. The Coalition does not endorse or receive any type of compensation from the included media outlets and is not responsible or liable in any way for any content of CSExtra or for any loss, damage or injury incurred as a result of any content appearing in CSExtra. For information on the Coalition, visit www.space.com or contact us via e-mail at Info@space.com.