Wednesday’s CSExtra includes reports on Tuesday night’s safe landing of a Soyuz spacecraft with U.S., Russian and Japanese astronauts on board; European endorsements for a Chinese partnership in the International Space Station, and new commentary on the International Space and Development Conference and more…
1. A Soyuz capsule with American Timothy Creamer, Russian Oleg Kotov, and Soichi Noguchi of Japan descends safely into Kazakhstan late Tuesday. The landing concluded a 163-day voyage to the International Space Station for the three.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/station/exp23/100602land.html
2. From Space News and Xinhuanet: The trade publication and Chinese news service both report that Jean-Jacques Jordain, the Director General of the European Space Agency, believes it’s time for China to join the International Space Station partnership.
A. From Space News.
http://www.spacenews.com/commentaries/100601-fromwires-endorsement-for-chinese-iss-participation.html
B. From Xinhuanet.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2010-06/01/c_13326632.htm
3. From Spacepolicyonline.com: The U.S. and China will vie for 21st century leadership in space, according to a new book edited by Boris Chertok, the Russian space designer. The book was previewed in Washington on Tuesday at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/pages/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=934:new-chertok-book-forecasts-the-future-to-2101&catid=91:news&Itemid=84
4. From Spacepolitics.com: A break down of a Daily Kos poll that includes questions on space policy. The liberal website commissioned Research 2000 to contact 1,200 respondents by telephone last week. Some top line results: 47 percent said the U.S. is spending too much on space; 56 percent said the government, rather than the commercial sector, should lead exploration efforts.
http://www.spacepolitics.com/2010/06/01/new-poll-on-space-spending/
A. From the New York Times: An analysis on cutting the deficit that suggests NASA’s moon program is an expense that could be eliminated.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/02/business/economy/02leonhardt.html?src=busln&scp=4&sq=NASA&st=cse
5. Several from The Space Review:
A. “Rockets and Rhetoric in Chicago,” Editor Jeff Foust examines the “hottest” topics at the International Space and Development Conference in Chicago, sponsored by the National Space Society. They, of course, included the debate over White House space policy. Foust, though, leads his assessment with new interest in commercial suborbital missions, as evidenced by a collaboration between Space Adventures and Armadillo Aerospace. The two companies will pursue a vertical take-off, vertical-landing strategy that could lift cargo to 30 KM within a year and 100 KM within two years. http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1637/1
B. “What will you say if SpaceX’s test rocket fails? Author and space scientist Alan Stern ponders the answer to the upcoming inaugural flight of the Falcon 9, with a reminder that SpaceX founder Elon Musk is no quitter. Musk weathered three failures of the smaller Falcon 1 before he achieved success. “I predict that if adversity presents itself, Musk and SpaceX will stick to it, rising to the occasion, and continuing the development of the Falcon 9 until it’s successful, just as they did with Falcon 1,” writes Stern. The closely watched test could occur as soon as Friday. http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1636/1
C. From Florida Today: SpaceX has completed tests of the Falcon 9 destruct system, clearing the way for a test launch on Friday, or Saturday. http://flametrench.flatoday.net/2010/06/falcon-9-destruct-system-test-clears.html
D. “Mars is the Key to NASA’s Future,” Author James C. McLane III, an associate fellow of the AIAA, makes a case for the Red Planet as a short term human exploration goal. It would provide a much needed focus for exploration and long term employment for domestic aerospace engineers, he writes. To those who might complain about the expense, McLane notes we are now spending about one quarter of one percent of the GNP on space. Fifty years ago, we committed one percent of GNP and reaped many technical rewards, McLane writes.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1635/1
E. “In Brick by Brick, a Lego spaceflight paradigm,” Simon Vander Bussche, a Belgian electrical engineering student, finds similarities between NASA now and the recent plight of Legos, the toy company. After expanding into other ventures, Legos returned to its original concept, the small bricks that could be assembled in many combinations. Vander Busshe sees merit in a commercial procurement plan for space hardware that includes more commonality, especially in space propulsion. He sees special merit in propellant depots in space as well. The author credits “A Commercial-based Lunar Architecture,” a 2009 paper written by three members of United Launch Alliance for their approach to using the moon as a learning lab that could lead to a sustained human presence in space.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1638/1
6. From Florida Today: Researchers at Florida State University believe there may be a link between the forecast for an active hurricane season and a lack of sun spot activity.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20100601/NEWS01/6010319/Do-fewer-sunspots-mean-more-hurricanes–
7. From Florida Today: The Labor Department plans an announcement on Wednesday affecting space shuttle workers who will be displaced as the shuttle is retired. Secretary Hilda Solis will make the announcement, which is believed to be unrelated to the $40 million White House initiative announced by President Obama on April 15.
http://flametrench.flatoday.net/2010/06/labor-secretary-plans-major.html
8. From the New York Times: A follow up feature on life sized mock up the James Webb Space Telescope that is on display this week in Battery Park as part of the World Science Festival.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/02/nyregion/02about.html?scp=2&sq=NASA&st=cse
9. From Spaceflightnow.com: From the street it’s hard to detect a nondescript warehouse that serves as headquarters for Ad Astra Space Co. Nonetheless, Ad Astra’s experimental rocket, the Vasimr, could revolutionize interplanetary space travel.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1006/01vasimr/
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