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Thursday’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space activities from across the country. In Washington, House appropriators reveal plans to cut NASA’s budget to 2008 levels as part of a larger strategy to reduce federal spending. The potential casualties include the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. In Florida, preparations to launch NASA’s final shuttle mission unfold on schedule, but the weather outlook for a launching on Friday worsens. Experts narrow the prospective landing sites for NASA’s next Mars mission. NASA’s Cassini mission reveals storm details on distant Saturn. NASA will follow the shuttle program’s final flight with new missions to Jupiter, the moon and Mars.
1. From the New York Times: A House Appropriations subcommittee unveils a NASA spending measure on Wednesday that would roll the agency’s top line budget back to pre-2008 levels, or to $16.8 billion — $2 billion less than the White House requested for 2012. The James Webb Space Telescope, the designated successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, is among the casualties. Plans for the Space Launch System, a new heavy lift rocket for future human space exploration, would survive but at a reduced spending level. The House Appropriations Commerce, Justice and Science Subcommittee is to vote on the measure today.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/07/science/07webb.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=NASA&st=cse
A. From Spacepolitics.com: The reduced House spending measure would cut planned expenditures in space science, space technology, exploration and space operations.
http://www.spacepolitics.com/2011/07/06/house-appropriators-swing-the-budget-axe/
B. From Spacepolicyonline.com: The provisional House appropriations measure includes commitments to spend not less than $1 billion on the Multi Purpose Crew Vehicle and $2 billion on the Space Launch System. Together the capsule and new heavy lift rocket would start astronauts on missions to deep space destinations.
http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/pages/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1673:house-approps-subcommittee-recommends-deep-cut-for-nasa-terminate-jwst&catid=67:news&Itemid=27
C. From Spaceflightnow.com: More on the James Webb Space Telescope’s cost and management issues.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1107/06jwst/
2. From Spaceflightnow.com: Orbiter Atlantis was in good shape as the countdown for the launching of NASA’s final shuttle mission unfolded on Wednesday. But the weather outlook included a 70 percent chance of rain. The shuttle’s lift off is scheduled for Friday at 11:26 a.m., EDT. http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts135/110706wx/
A. From Spaceflightnow.com: A thorough look at the 135th and final NASA space shuttle mission.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts135/110706preview/
B. From the New York Times: In an op-ed, columnist Frank Bruni finds the space shuttle’s certain retirement unsettling — a waning of the traditional American belief that there is no pursuit the nation cannot achieve.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/07/opinion/07bruni.html?_r=1&ref=opinion
C. From Collectspace.com: The collector’s website offers a list of the memorabilia flying aboard Atlantis on NASA’s final space shuttle mission.
http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-070611b.html
D. From the Houston Chronicle: Dozens of NASA workers from NASA’s Johnson Space Center organize for a trip to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to witness the final space shuttle launch. “My hope is that after this launch, they’ll say, ‘Oh, we were just kidding. We’re going to fly more space shuttle flights,’ said one making the trip.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/chronicle/7642558.html#ixzz1RPVW9OS7
E. From The Orlando Sentinel: in an editorial, the newspaper makes the case for the shuttle program’s record of achievement. The shuttle’s value is apparent in the large numbers of Americans headed to Central Florida to witness Atlantis lift off, according to the newspaper.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-ed-space-shuttle-legacy-20110706,0,401328.story
3. From Florida Today: NASA intends to recruit astronauts, though fewer of them, in the agency’s post shuttle era.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110707/NEWS02/107070322/NASA-still-hiring-heroes-Astronaut-Corps-just-not-many-before?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Home
4. From Space.com: NASA narrows potential landing sites for the Mars Science Laboratory rover, also known as Curiosity, to two. They are Gale and Ebserswalde. A choice between the two sites is expected within 30 days. Both candidate sites exhibit signs of past water activity, which should increase the prospects for microbial life. MSL, which is in the cue for a NASA launch later this year, was designed to look for potentially habitable conditions on Mars. http://www.exploredeepspace.com/12185-nasa-mars-rover-curiosity-landing-sites.html
5. From the Los Angeles Times: NASA’s Cassini mission characterizes a mega storm on giant Saturn.
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-saturn-storm-20110707,0,5615486.story
6. From Florida Today: NASA has plenty of major science mission to launch this year, following the departure of the final shuttle flight. August, September and November will see the departures of missions to Jupiter, the moon and Mars.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110707/COLUMNISTS0207/107070310/MATT-REED-Post-shuttle-prognosis-space-supremacy-plenty-launches–
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