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Friday’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting on space related activities from around the world. Scientists preview a new technique for predicting disruptive sunspots and other solar activity. NASA’s final crew of shuttle astronauts are guests of a famous New York museum. New satellite data reveals the extent of Antarctic ice loss. Russia and China face rocket failures and satellite losses this week. SpaceX discusses its search for a possible new commercial launch site. An insider’s look at the James Webb Space Telescope. Space station astronaut Ron Garan hosts a 3-D satellite transmission from the International Space Station. A look back at the shuttle program’s ambitious tethered satellite missions.
1. From the San Francisco Chronicle: Stanford scientists measure subsurface solar sound waves to improve the forecasting of emerging sun spots, or active regions on the sun. The new technique promises to provide an earlier warning of eruptions and the subsequent release of energetic particles from the sun that can disrupt satellite communications, even interrupt electrical power distribution on the Earth.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/08/18/BAER1KNIRO.DTL&tsp=1
2. From Space.com: NASA’s final shuttle crew receives a warm welcome Thursday at New York City’s Intrepid, Sea, Air and Space Museum. The museum was chosen to house NASA’s test shuttle orbiter Enterprise.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/12678-astronauts-nyc-museum-space-shuttle-enterprise.html
3. From the New York Times: New satellite data traces the flow of ice from Antarctic glaciers into the surrounding ocean. Research, carried out in conjunction with NASA, was published Thursday in the Journal Science Express. The studies suggest that an increase in global temperatures is a factor in the loss on Antarctic ice.
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/18/mapping-antarctic-ice-in-motion/?scp=2&sq=NASA&st=cse
4. Russia and China experience rocket launch failures this week. The losses could have repercussions for future space activities.
A. From Spaceflightnow.com: Russia loses contact with a European communications satellite Thursday, hours after the spacecraft was launched. It’s the latest in a string of setbacks for the country’s robust commercial launch program. The problem surfaced during second stage maneuvers.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1108/17proton/
B. From Itar-Tass of Russia: Officials inform Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin of the spacecraft loss.
http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/207103.html
C. From Spaceflightnow.com: China loses a Long March rocket with a science and technology research satellite. The loss could have implications for an unmanned space station prototype, the Tiangong-1 that China is preparing to launch soon.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1108/18longmarch/
D. From Xinhua of China: A chief Chinese spacecraft designer predicts the upcoming launch of China’s Tiangong-1 unmanned space module will not be affected. The two rocket launchers are different, says Zi Faren, a Shenzou spacecraft designer.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/sci/2011-08/19/c_131060996.htm
5. From MSNBC and Cosmic Log: SpaceX, one of two companies selected by NASA to deliver supplies to the International Space Station, is looking at several candidates for a possible new launch complex. They include Texas, Puerto Rico, Florida and Hawaii. A new site would join operating bases at Cape Canaveral, Fla., and Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/08/18/7409909-spacex-looks-for-an-extra-base
6. From the Deseret News of Utah: An insider’s look at the James Webb Space Telescope, a troubled multi-national space observatory that has been designated as the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. Jason Budinoff is an optical engineer on the challenging project
http://www.deseretnews.com/blog/47/10012184/Nightly-news-astronomy-A-Fabulous-Space-Telescope—-If-It-Flies.html
7. From Space.com: NASA astronaut Ron Garan, one of six fliers living aboard the International Space Station, transmits the first 3-D imagery to Earth. His subject is an inflatable globe of the Earth.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/12674-3d-video-live-space-station.html
8. From Yahoo.com: A look back at a pair of complex shuttle missions that featured experiments with Italy’s tethered satellite, an experiment to evaluate how much electricity a conducting cable passing through the Earth’s magnetic field can generate. The shuttle flight test provided astronauts and ground controllers plenty to overcome.
http://news.yahoo.com/inside-look-nasas-handling-complex-mission-tethered-satellite-152200215.html
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