CSExtra – Tuesday, April 5, 2011

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Tuesday’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space-related activities from around the world. In Kazakhstan, U. S. and Russian astronauts begin a two-day journey to the International Space Station,  where they will embark on a five month mission. In Cape Canaveral, NASA announces a 10-day delay in the start of shuttle Endeavour’s final flight, a 14-day mission to equip the space station with the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer. Collectors across the globe send the price of scientifically valuable meteorites soaring. Tight U. S. budgets mean future fewer ground breaking planetary and Earth science missions. The rise of commercial space activities bring new legal uncertainty.  Emerging U. S. commercial space transportation companies eagerly await a NASA funding announcement this week. Federal agencies look to the Internet in their bid to snare laid off NASA contractors with skills in engineering, information technology and program management.

1. From the Associated Press via Yahoo.com: A Russian Soyuz spacecraft with two cosmonauts and an American departs for the International Space Station late Monday.  Andrey Borisenko, Alexander Samokutyaev and Ron Garan are expected to dock with the station Wednesday night. They will be greeted by three Russian, American and Italian colleagues as they begin a long stay. The launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazkhstan coincides with the 50th anniversary of the launching of the first human, Yuri Gagarin, into orbit from the same launch complex. Gagarin’s brief mission lifted off on April 12, 1962. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110405/ap_on_re_as/as_kazakhstan_space

A. From Collectspace.com: Ron Garan’s website initiative to create a greater awareness of planet Earth, Fragile Oasis, gains traction as he begins a five month journey to the International Space Station. Garan says he was compelled to begin the website and a social media campaign during a spacewalk. During the outing, he was moved by the beauty of the Earth and the noble efforts of the many nations that united to build the International Space Station. Garan said he and his space traveling colleagues can use Fragile Oasis to bring their message of concern for the future to the public.
http://www.collectspace.com/ubb/Forum18/HTML/000826.html

B. From Bloomberg.com: Russia is accelerating plans to reach the moon and Mars with explorers, according to a report based on an interview with Anatoly Perminov, the head of Roscosmos, the Russian space agency. The accelerated pace is aided by the agency’s highest budget since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has named aerospace as one of five industries that will receive government attention in order to diversity Russia’s economy. The effort is also intended to keep Russia ahead of China in the space arena, Bloomberg reports. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-04/russia-speeds-up-moon-mars-plans-as-u-s-may-cut-space-funds.html?cmpid=yhoo

2. From Florida Today:  The final mission of the shuttle Endeavour slips from April 19 to April 29. The change preserves an April 27 launching for a  Russian Progress cargo carrier with a perishable biology experiment destined for the International Space Station. During a 14-day mission, Endeavour’s six astronauts will equip the space station with the $2 billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer. NASA mission rules prevent the shuttle’s presence at the orbiting science laboratory when a Russian Progress or Soyuz is coming or going. http://space.flatoday.net/2011/04/nasa-officials-slips-endeavour-launch.html

3. From the New York Times:  Meteorites have become a commodity, so much so that the scientist who study them are having a difficult time getting access to scientifically desirable rocks. In Egypt,  for instance,  the political upheaval is making access to a recent crater find all but impossible. However meteorites spirited out of the crater and out of the country are traded over the Internet  — for the right high price.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/05/science/05meteorite.html?_r=2&ref=science

4. Two from Monday’s The Space Review:

A. In “Tough decisions ahead for planetary exploration,”  Space Review editor Jeff Foust notes that NASA is enjoying the scientific fruits from the ambitious missions of the Mars Exploration Rovers and the long running Cassini mission to Saturn. The Mars Science Laboratory with the Curiosity rover is scheduled for a late 2011 launching, and New Horizons should reach Pluto in 2015.  However, the pipeline for future missions is drying up in a stalled economy that is producing tight budgets for future high cost planetary initiatives. Even a collaboration with the European Space Agency on a future Martian endeavor has run into a grim financial outlook.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1815/1

B. In “Space law and the new era of commercial spaceflight, Christopher Newman and Ben Middleton, two attorneys, forecast a legal roller coaster as the private sector heads for the final frontier with cargo, passengers and ambitions of exploiting resources. When is a crime a crime, who regulates, enforces and dispenses justice. It’s all very unclear.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1812/1

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