CSExtra – Friday, April 8, 2011

Apr 8, 2011 | Blog, Coalition News, CSExtra

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Friday’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting on space-related activities from around the globe. A shutdown of the U. S. government at midnight on Friday would affect non-essential NASA operations. The latest on NASA’s plans to announce the destinations for the retired space shuttle orbiters. The head of Russia’s federal space agency is expected to retire soon. A NASA mission designed to observe gravitational waves is sidelined to rescue the James Webb Space Telescope. A Florida lawmaker promises legislation to direct NASA back to the moon. The Boy Scouts of America announce a new STEM merit badge. A meteor falls in Tennessee.

1. From Spaceflightnow.com: If the federal government shuts down at midnight, NASA’s Mission Control will continue near normal operations. While the processing of shuttle orbiters Endeavour and Atlantis would slow, their April 29 and June 28 launch dates would likely go unchanged unless a federal shutdown extends beyond April 18, Spaceflightnow.com reports. http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts134/110407govt/

A. From Florida Today: Prospects of a government shutdown prompt NASA to hold off on the announcement of a second round of financing for the agency’s Commercial Crew Development initiative. Plans by NASA to announce on April 12, or next Tuesday, which U. S. museums will house the retired shuttle orbiters Atlantis and Endeavour would also be delayed. Enterprise will be assigned at museum as well.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110408/BREAKINGNEWS/104080317/KSC-staff-would-scant-federal-budget-shutdown?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Home

B. From the Associated Press via Yahoo.com: A look at NASA’s latest plans to announce the destinations for Atlantis, Endeavour and Enterprise – if there is not a government shutdown. The announcement, from the Kennedy Space Center, is set to fall on the 30th anniversary of the first shuttle flight, April 12, 1981.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110407/ap_on_sc/us_space_shuttles_last_stop

C. From Space.com: Globally,  April 12, or next Tuesday, marks the 50th anniversary of the first human space flight as well as the 30th anniversary of the initial space shuttle mission  Space.com produces a multi-sourced graphic depiction of Soviet cosmonaut  Yuri Gagarin’s historic 108 minute orbital flight on April 12, 1961.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/11322-yuri-gagarin-1st-human-spaceflight-infographic.html

2. From Ria Novosti: The head of Roscosmos, Anatoly Perminov, will retire soon as he reaches a mandatory retirement age of 65. A rocket scientist,  Perminov ascended to the head of Russia’s federal space agency in 2004.

A. From Pravda: Rumors of Perminov’s departure surfaced after the loss of three Russian Glonass communications satellites. http://english.pravda.ru/russia/kremlin/06-04-2011/117479-roscosmos-0/

3. From Discovery.com: NASA sidelines an ambitious mission to search for gravitational waves, the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, which was scheduled for launching in 2015. Instead, funding will be re-directed to the James Webb Space Telescope to help overcome cost increases. Webb has been designated the Hubble Space Telescope’s successor. Einstein’s general theory of relativity predicted the existence of gravity waves.
http://news.discovery.com/space/a-farewell-to-lisa-110408.html

4. From Florida Today: In an Op-ed, Florida Congressman Bill Posey says he will introduce legislation directing NASA to resume the lunar exploration strategy embraced by the all but cancelled Constellation Program. Posey says the lunar focus is needed to keep the United States in a global leadership position.  http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110407/COLUMNISTS0205/110406020/-Bill-Posey-Back-moon-April-7-?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|ZING!|p

5. From the Associated Press via the Washington Post: The Boy Scouts of America offer a new merit badge based achievements in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or the STEM subjects. An estimated 10,000 scouts are expected to achieve the new badge in its first year.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/robotics-squeezes-between-rifle-shooting-and-rowing-in-boy-scout-merit-badge-list/2011/04/08/AFr7RRzC_story.html
 
6. From Space.com: NASA’s Swift space telescope mission appears to have detected a massive black hole ripping a star apart. http://www.exploredeepspace.com/11328-strange-space-explosion-black-hole.html
 
7. From the Huntsville Times: Ground-based NASA telescopes spot a large meteor as it falls to the ground in Tennessee this week. At least two feet in diameter, the rock’s origins appear to be the asteroid belt, say experts.
http://blog.al.com/space-news/2011/04/nasa_telescopes_say_meteor_fel.html

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