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Wednesday’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space-related events from around the world. Three U. S., Russian and Japanese astronauts launch from Kazakhstan aboard a Soyuz rocket on Tuesday, starting a six month tour of duty aboard the International Space Station. NASA unveils striking photos of shuttle Endeavour docked to the space station in May. NASA furnishes Congress with documents relating to future programs, including plans for a new heavy lift rocket and the cost of nurturing a U. S. commercial space transportation industry. Some NASA supporters question the need for a heavy lift rocket when the agency’s exploration goals seem uncertain. The sun unleashes a surprisingly large flare on Tuesday that may deliver a glancing blow to the Earth. NASA’s White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico faces an uncertain future. Support for a National Exploration Day.
1. From Spaceflightnow.com: A Soyuz capsule departs for the International Space Station on Tuesday with Russian, U. S. and Japanese crew members bound for a near six month tour of duty aboard the International Space Station.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/station/exp28/110607launch.html
A. From Collectspace.com: Photos taken on May 23 from Russian Soyuz spacecraft reveal the shuttle Endeavour docked to the International Space Station. The images, meant to commemorate the shuttle’s contributions to the construction of the orbiting science lab, are the first to show the full scope of the station with an orbiter attached. Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli snapped the photographs after he, Russian Dimitry Kondratyev and American Catherine Coleman undocked from the station on their journey back to Earth.
http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-060711a.html
2. From Space News: NASA turns over documents to the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee in response to a dispute over whether the agency is complying with the 2010 NASA Authorization Act. The documents relate to discussions over how to proceed with the development of a new heavy lift rocket, the cost of launching U. S. astronauts to the International Space Station on commercial rockets and other matters.
http://www.spacenews.com/civil/110607-nasa-transfer-documents-congress.html
3. From the Orlando Sentinel: By the end of this month, NASA leaders are expected to present Congress with their plans for a heavy lift rocket that could take human explorers on deep space missions and ultimately to Mars. However, with destinations and timescales unclear, some are wondering why NASA should develop the expensive hardware.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/space/os-nasa-rocket-questions-20110605,0,2277764.story
A. From the Orlando Sentinel: A recent poll suggests that 57 percent of adult Americans believe the U. S. should lead human space exploration. The survey of 625 adults by Ron Sachs Communication and Mason-Dixon Polling Research was taken May 23-24.
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2011/06/sachsmason-dixon-poll-supports-continued-space-exploration.html
4. From Discovery.com: The sun unleashed a large solar flare early Tuesday. The Earth may receive a glancing blow from the material as it races through space.
http://news.discovery.com/space/epic-solar-flare-pops-suns-magnetic-cork-110607.html
A. From the Washington Post: There is a chance of geo-magnetic storms on the Earth as a result of the solar flare.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/post/video-huge-explosion-on-sun—what-does-it-mean/2011/06/07/AGEh0MLH_blog.html
5. From the Las Cruces Sun-News: NASA’s White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico faces an uncertain future as the shuttle program retires in July. Staffers predict, however, that it will remain in NASA’s domain.
http://www.lcsun-news.com/las_cruces-business/ci_18224560
6. From the St. Petersburg Times of Florida: Columnist Bill Maxwell would like July 20 designated as National Space Exploration Day, commemorating the Apollo moon landing of July 20, 1969.
http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/62055
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