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Friday’s CSExtra offers the latest in head line making developments from around the world. NASA-funded research identifies a startling terrestrial bacteria that thrives on toxic arsenic, a finding that may alter the search for alien life. The secretive U.S. Air Force X-37B unmanned space shuttle touches down at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., overnight. The SpaceX poll sitter in the race to develop a commercial rocket for cargo and astronaut missions to the International Space Station is scheduled for a launch pad test early Friday. The cause of tiny cracks in the shuttle Discovery’s external fuel tank continues to elude NASA’s shuttle program. A launch date place holder of Dec. 17 to 20 may have to slide as analysis continues. More on the tension between the White House and Congress over NASA’s future.
1. From Astrobiology Magazine via Space.com: The NASA-funded Discovery of arsenic loving bacteria in an isolated California lake defies convention. The finding is likely to widen the search for extraterrestrial life beyond Earth-like planets.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/scienceastronomy/arsenic-bacteria-alien-life-101202.html
A. From the Washington Post: Internet rumors of alien life this week prompt calls to NASA from the White House and Congress.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/02/AR2010120203102.html?hpid=topnews
B. From USA Today: The arsenic discovery increases the prospects for extraterrestrial life.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/sciencefair/post/2010/12/arsenic-munching-microbe-excites-astrobiologists/1
C. From Time Magazine: The arsenic discovery is significant. However, rampant Internet speculation of existence of alien life ahead of the announcement weakens the impact.
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2034601,00.html
D. From the Houston Chronicle: The NASA-funded research findings will have an significant impact on microbiology, experts predict.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/7322108.html
E. From the Wall Street Journal: The arsenic loving microbes are a living demonstration of the exotic substances that biochemistry might, at least in theory, use in other worlds.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703377504575650840897300342.html?KEYWORDS=NASA
2. From the U.S. Air Force: The X-37B, an unmanned reusable shuttle developed by the U.S. Air Force, ends a secretive test flight early Friday with a landing at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The orbital spacecraft, launched in April, has been watched closely by amateur observers. Touchdown was at 4:16 a.m., EDT
http://www.vandenberg.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123233195
3. From Spaceflightnow.com: At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., the SpaceX Falcon 9 is poised for a hot fire test on Friday at 9 a.m., EST. If Friday’s launch pad test is successful, the Falcon 9 could lift off on its first orbital test flight with the Dragon capsule on Dec. 7. The Falcon 9/Dragon is the poll sitter in NASA fostered efforts to develop a commercial spacecraft that can take cargo and possibly astronauts to the International Space Station.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/002/status.html
4. From Spaceflightnow.com: NASA shuttle managers continue efforts to identify the root cause of the cracks that appeared in the shuttle Discovery’s external fuel tank during a Nov. 5 launch scrub. More tests and analysis are underway. The next available launch period, Dec. 17 to 20, may have to slide — especially if managers opt for a fueling test.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts133/101202prcb/index.html
A. From the Orlando Sentinel: A mid-December launching looks increasingly unlikely. But NASA has not given up on December, the Sentinel reports.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/space/os-nasa-delays-shuttle-again-20101202,0,6551386.story
5. From Scientific American: The changes under way at NASA call for more than the usual attention to detail by the White House, according to an op-ed.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=defying-politics
A. From Spacepolitics.com: The recommendations of the president’s deficit reduction commission do not favor NASA’s new course. Spending cuts would loom in the two years ahead followed by very constrained growth.
http://www.spacepolitics.com/2010/12/02/did-nasa-dodge-a-bullet-in-the-deficit-commission-report-not-really/
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