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Friday’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space-related activities from across the globe. In Moscow, six volunteers emerge from isolation after a more than 500 day long simulated mission to Mars. The first orbital docking of two Chinese spacecraft this week brings new global respect for the Asian nation as a space power. Experts question the U.S. space resolve during a Washington forum. Experts make their case for a new U.S. heavy lift rocket rather than orbital re-fueling stations. Estimates of CO2 production soar. The sun grows active. A visionary Leonardo deVinci of robots. .NASA’s Curiosity rover is placed atop a Mars bound rocket for a late November launch. NASA’s Kennedy Space Center strives to re-invent itself around commercial space.
1. From MSNBC and Cosmic Log: Mars500, a 500-day analog mission to Mars, hosted by the Institute for Biomedical Problems in Moscow, draws to an end early Friday for the six participants from Europe, Russia and China. The long simulation included a Mars landing for the six volunteers in February. The exercise may lead to other analog missions, say experts.
http://on.msnbc.com/u9BI2p
A. From the BBC: The Mars500 volunteers have been studied closely by experts in physical and mental health. After emerging from their “spacecraft” early Friday, the volunteers will head to a three-day medical quarantine for studies.
http://bbc.in/rutvQn
2. From the New York Times: In China, the first orbital docking of two Chinese spacecraft is a big deal. It was broadcast on national television. Prime Minister Wen Jiabao was on hand at the control center. Citizen flocked to the Internet to express their views.
A. From Xinhua.net of China: The orbital docking between China’s Shenhouz-8 spacecraft and the Tiangong-1 space lab wins praise from a Russian space official.
http://bit.ly/tWi46w
B. From Space.com: The U.S. and China have their many differences but they could cooperate in the exploration of space, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden tells a Congressional oversight panel.
http://bit.ly/ueDMY2
3. From Florida Today: A Washington forum, sponsored by the Planetary Society and Mars Society, raises questions about the future of U. S. leadership in the exploration of space. The James Webb Space Telescope and plans to retrieve samples of Martian soil for analysis are two projects at risk, say advocates.
http://on.flatoday.com/tpuGjB
4. From Space News: Orbiting rocket fuel depots cannot replace the need for a U. S. heavy lift rocket, write Michael Griffin, NASA’s former administrator, and Scott Pace, who directs the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University, in an op-ed. Depots will find their place in a space architecture when the source of the propellant is extracted from the moon or Mars, not delivered from the Earth’s surface they write.
http://bit.ly/rqOhDJ
5. From the Associated Press via the Orlando Sentinel and others: The world’s production of carbon dioxide jumps by a record amount, according to Department of Energy calculations. The production is outpacing worst case estimates from just four years ago. China, the United States and India are the largest emitters of the green house gas linked to global warming.
http://thesent.nl/vILM3D
6. From Wired News: NASA’s Solar Dynamics Laboratory catches observes one of the largest sun spots in years. It could release a massive solar flare that would fling material towards the Earth.
http://bit.ly/tWDOSQ
7. From the Washington Post: Virginia Tech engineer Dennis Hong has become the Leonardo deVinci of robots. His inspirations for the machines include the delicate ankle bone of a deer and a mother braiding the hair of a child. One of his creations moves by turning itself inside out.
8. From Spaceflightnow.com: NASA places the Mars Science Laboratory, also known as the Curiosity rover, atop an Atlas 5 launch vehicle. Curiosity is scheduled to depart for the Red Planet on Nov. 25.
http://bit.ly/vWIvaC
9. From Florida Today: NASA’s Kennedy Space Center looks to an increase in commercial rocket launches to recover the jobs lost by the retirement of NASA’s shuttle. At a community forum, business leaders say the transition will be guided by a local vision of a thriving commercial space industry.
http://on.flatoday.com/vEKmjq
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