To subscribe to CSExtra via RSS feed click here.
If you would prefer to receive CSExtra in e-mail format, e-mail us at Info@space.com with the word SUBSCRIBE in the subject line.
Friday’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on the space frontier and the Earth’s well being. NASA’s Kepler mission team makes a much anticipate announcement on the discovery of Earth-like planets around other stars. The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, an astronomical observatory for the International Space Station, reaches the Kennedy Space Center from Geneva. The AMS will launch on the final NASA shuttle mission. A NASA climatologist explains his activism. Commentary on why missions to the moon make economic sense. Busting the myth over public support for space exploration; and a recipe for artificial vomit emerges in a bid to perfect a space trash container.
1. From the New York Times: NASA’s Kepler planet-hunting telescope spots a possible Earth-sized world, the first confirmed outside the solar system. The planet is about 1.5 times the size of the Earth and three to four times the mass, though made of the same materials, say Kepler astronomers. The star, Kepler 9, and its planets are about 2,000 light years away. It’s one of 700 candidate star/planet combinations announced by the Kepler team in June.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/27/science/space/27planet.html?_r=1&sq=NASA&st=cse&adxnnl=1&scp=2&adxnnlx=1282903440-nrnUAmufXypqkGivWaMNIg
A. From the Associated Press and Yahoo.com: An alien solar system may include as many as seven planets, including one that may be the smallest residing outside our solar system.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100824/ap_on_sc/eu_switzerland_new_planets
B. From the Washington Post: Kepler, launched in March of 2009 surveyed 150,000 stars in seven months.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/26/AR2010082605657.html
C. From MSNBC and Cosmic Log: NASA’s Kepler planet hunter finds a star system with two large planets constantly changing orbits and possibly a super-Earth.
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/08/26/4974937-planets-spotted-in-changing-orbits
D. From spacepolicyonline.com: The two large planets rival Saturn in size. They are in the constellation Lyra.
http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/pages/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1086:kepler-team-confirms-two-saturn-sized-planets-around-a-single-star&catid=67:news&Itemid=27
2. From Spaceflightnow.com: The $2 billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer reaches NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, following a U.S. Air Force flight from Geneva. AMS, a dark matter detector, will be readied for launching to the International Space Station on the final shuttle mission, now set for lift off on Feb. 26. The entire shuttle crew and principal investigator Sam Ting are on hand to greet the observatory.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts134/100826amsarrival/
3. From the Associated Press as posted by the Los Angeles Times: The sun’s energy output drops in 2009, causing the Earth’s upper atmosphere to cool and shrink. It’s good news for low orbiting satellites. But bad news as well because orbital debris will remain in space rather than burning up as it re-enters the atmosphere.
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/wire/sns-ap-us-sci-atmosphere-shrinking,0,3998249.story
4. From the New York Times: From climate scientist to activist, NASA climate scientist James Hansen explains why and how he made the conversion over global warming.
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/25/from-climate-science-to-climate-advocacy-the-sequel/?scp=2&sq=NASA&st=cse
5. From the Air & Space Magazine.com: Lunar scientist Paul Spudis looks at the reasons for the high cost of space exploration, a lack of mass production and automation. The moon, he writes, offers resources as well as the opportunity to begin to overcome the obstacles.
http://blogs.airspacemag.com/moon/2010/08/24/the-moon-creating-capability-in-space-and-getting-value-for-our-money/
6. From the blog of Roger Launius, space historian: Launius deconstructs a popular myth that NASA enjoyed widespread public support in the mid-1960s, as it raced the former Soviet Union to the moon. It’s important to note, as policy makers debate NASA’s future, that public support has always hovered at around 80 percent, except for a dip in the early 70s, Launius writes.
http://launiusr.wordpress.com/2010/08/16/exploding-the-myth-of-popular-support-for-project-apollo/
7. From MSNBC’s Cosmic Log: In its search for a better trash bag for space, a NASA lab develops a recipe for artificial vomit. It’s a funny story.
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/08/26/4978943-how-to-create-space-vomit
Brought to you by the Coalition for Space Exploration, CSExtra is a daily compilation of space industry news selected from hundreds of online media resources. The Coalition is not the author or reporter of any of the stories appearing in CSExtra and does not control and is not responsible for the content of any of these stories. The content available through CSExtra contains links to other websites and domains which are wholly independent of the Coalition, and the Coalition makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or authenticity of the information contained in any such site or domain and does not pre-screen or approve any content. The Coalition does not endorse or receive any type of compensation from the included media outlets and is not responsible or liable in any way for any content of CSExtra or for any loss, damage or injury incurred as a result of any content appearing in CSExtra. For information on the Coalition, visit www.space.com or contact us via e-mail at Info@space.com.