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.
Monday’s CSExtra features the latest reporting and commentary on global space activities as well as a round up of news from the weekend. In Washington, there’s a change among Senate appropriators responsible for NASA. In the House, appropriators schedule a NASA hearing. NASA and veteran shuttle commander Mark Kelly announce Kelly will resume training today for the final flight of Endeavour. Kelly has been on personal leave since his wife, Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, was shot at a Jan. 8 political rally in Tucson. Endeavour and a crew of six are heading toward an April 19 lift off. More shuttle workers are scheduled to lose their jobs in April. At the Kennedy Space Center, officials look to the private sector as potential tenants as the shuttle’s retirement draws near. NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver spot lights the commercial promise of Bigelow Aerospace. NASA unveils photos revealing the far side of the sun. The Air Force launches a reconnaissance satellite. European scientists await word from their counterparts in the U.S. and Japan before setting mission priorities. The Pentagon releases its national security space policy. An asteroid zips close. And Mars for one?
1. From Spacepolicyonline.com, Feb. 4: In the Senate, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, of Texas, becomes the ranking Republican on the Commerce, Justice and Science Subcommittee (Appropriations), replacing fellow Republican Richard Shelby of Alabama. The panel, which has spending jurisdiction over NASA, is chaired by U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Maryland, another exploration supporter. Shelby, a supporter of the canceled Constellation program, had become a lightning rod for those ready to transition to a new human exploration strategy.
http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/pages/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1397:hutchison-replaces-shelby-as-top-republican-on-senate-cjs-subcommittee&catid=67:news&Itemid=27
A. From the Hill, Feb. 6: House appropriators this week begin a series of hearings that will attempt to identify waste in government agencies. NASA’s Inspector General Paul Martin is scheduled to go before the Commerce-Justice and Science Subcommittee (Appropriations) on Thursday.
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/142357-its-oversight-season-panels-launch-hundreds-of-hearings-to-trim-spending
B. From Spacepolicyonline.com, Feb. 6: Major space policy events planned for the week of Feb. 7:
http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/pages/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1399:events-of-interest-week-of-february-7-11-2011&catid=67:news&Itemid=27
2. From the Houston Chronicle, Feb. 5: Veteran NASA astronaut Mark Kelly will remain at shuttle Endeavour’s helm for a late April mission, one that is now scheduled to be the last shuttle program flight. Kelly says his wife, Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who is recovering from a Jan. 8 gun shot wound, supports his decision. He’s hopeful she can attend his April 19 lift off.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7412991.html
A. From the New York Times, Feb. 5: A look at the public reaction to Kelly’s (and NASA’s) decision to resume full time training and fly. Most support Kelly’s professionalism, but some believe he should remain at the side of his stricken wife.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/05/us/05kelly.html?_r=2&ref=science
3. Spacepolitics.com, Feb. 5: The Defense Department on Friday released its National Space Security Strategy. The policy document address three broad themes, the proliferation of orbital debris, anti-satellite testing and the growing numbers of nations that rely on satellites for security, communications and financial activity. The strategy also highlights need for a robust U.S. space industrial base. Space is becoming increasingly congested, contested and competitive, and its users should strive to operate in a cooperative manner, according to a policy summary.
http://www.spacepolitics.com/2011/02/05/pentagon-releases-national-security-space-strategy/
4. From the Orlando Sentinel, Feb. 4: United Space Alliance, NASA’s shuttle prime contractor, will drop nearly 700 workers on April 8. Notices went out on Friday. The breakdown includes 548 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, 145 at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, and 4 at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/10778-tiny-asteroid-passes-earth.html
5. From Florida Today, Feb. 6: At the NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, the future will depend on what officials do with the many facilities developed over the past three decades to support the shuttle’s mission. With the shuttle retiring, conversions of those facilities to support future commercial space missions will have a major economic impact.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110206/NEWS02/102060317/Up+for+grabs?+Private+companies+eye+KSC+facilities
A. From Florida Today, Feb. 6: In an Op-ed, John Kelly examines the efforts of Robert Bigelow to launch a line of inflatable line of space stations from the Kennedy Space Center. The strategy will depend on tax incentives, writes Kelly, to bring hundreds of news jobs for those facing the loss of employment as NASA’s shuttle retires.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110206/COLUMNISTS0405/102060335/1007/news02/John+Kelly++Inflatable+space+station?
B. From the Las Vegas Sun, Feb. 5. Bigelow Aerospace, which plans to take a NASA developed inflatable space module commercial, receives a factory visit from NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver. “The government can’t do everything when it comes to space exploration,” Garver said. “That’s why we turn to the private sector, which can add innovation. What you see here is an example of our nation at its best.”
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/feb/05/nlv-company-wants-build-inflatable-space-station-n/
6. From Time Magazine, Feb. 6: NASA releases images of the sun’s far side. The imagery was taken with NASA’s Stereo A and Stereo B spacecraft launched in 2006. The spacecraft should help scientists forecast changes in solar activity, including those that can affect telecommunications on the Earth.
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2046569,00.html
7. From Spaceflightnow.com, Feb. 6: An Orbital Sciences’ Minotaur I rocket launches a National Reconnaissance Office satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., on Sunday.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/minotaur/nrol66/index.html
8. Space News, Feb. 4: In Europe scientists are weighing their next major science mission start. Among the choices, a pair of Jupiter investigations and another to study gravity waves. However, neither will go forward until NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency can weigh in on financial support.
http://www.spacenews.com/civil/110204-europe-mission-depends-us-japan.html
9. From Space News, Feb. 4: NASA faces a cost increase for the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, a launcher of major science projects. Company officials attribute the rising price in part to the end of shuttle program work.
http://www.spacenews.com/civil/110204-engine-costs-drive-atlas5-prices.html
10. From Space.com, Feb. 4: A small asteroid passed within 3,400 miles of the Earth on Friday. 2011CQ1, four feet across, was discovered just hours earlier. The rock would have burned up before reaching the Earth’s surface if there had been an intersect.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/10778-tiny-asteroid-passes-earth.html
11. From the Los Angeles Times, Feb. 6: In an Op-ed, former NASA engineer James C. McLane III makes the case for a one-way human expedition to Mars. It’s the only way, humanity can reach the Red Planet within the next two decades to begin a colony, McLane writes. http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-mclane-mars-20110206,0,7711500.story
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.