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Friday’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting on space-related activities from around the world. American Ron Garan and Russians Alexander Samokutyaev and Andrey Borisenko descend safely to Earth from the International Space Station early Friday. Meanwhile, the Space Station’s 15- nation governing body approves a plan on Thursday that will assure continuous staffing of the orbiting science laboratory. The new scheduling lifts the prospect of a temporary de-staffing of the station in late November because of an investigation into the Aug. 24 Soyuz rocket crash. Astronomers discover an exo-planet that circles two stars. NASA’s 20-year-old Upper Atmospheric Research Satellite hastens an anticipated but uncontrolled re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. New reports suggest favorable Congressional support for NASA’s Space Launch System, the heavy lift rocket plan unveiled on Wednesday. NASA’s Mars rover Opportunity may be close to another significant discovery about water on the Red Planet. Experts explain a bright flash in the skies over the U. S. Southwest.
1. From Spaceflightnow.com: International Space Station crew members Ron Garan, Andrey Borisenko and Alexander Samokutyaev descend safely to Earth late Thursday, landing aboard their Soyuz 26 capsule in southern Kazakhstan. A loss of direct communications with Russia’s Mission Control adds some drama. The American and two Russians are greeted quickly by search and rescue crews. After medical checks, Garan was to be flown to Houston, Texas, home to NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Borisenko and Samokutyaev were headed for Star City, Russia. The three men ended a 164 day mission to the orbiting science laboratory.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/station/exp28/landing/
2. From the Houston Chronicle: The International Space Station’s management team announces it will launch the next Soyuz crew to the orbiting science laboratory on Nov. 14, scheduling that will prevent a temporary de-staffing. The 15-nation partnership has faced the prospect of temporarily withdrawing astronauts from the station in late November since the Aug. 24 failure of a Soyuz-U rocket with a Progress cargo capsule on board. A speedy investigation by the Russians appears to be easing concerns of a long interruption of Soyuz launches with astronauts.
http://www.chron.com/default/article/11-14-launch-to-space-station-set-2173226.php
3. From Space.com: Astronomers announce the discovery of a Saturn-sized exo-planet that orbits two stars. This strange world resembles the planet Tatooine from the Star Wars film series. The discovery was made with NASA’s Kepler space telescope. Planet Kepler 16b lies 200 light years from the Earth.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/12963-tatooine-planet-2-suns-star-wars-kepler-16b.html
4. From MSNBC/Cosmic Log: NASA’s big Upper Atmospheric and Research Satellite appears likely to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere next week, possibly Sept. 23-25. The spacecraft was launched 20 years ago and provided scientists with new insight into conditions in the atmosphere that affect the ozone layer and climate. Recent solar activity is heating and expanding the Earth’s atmosphere enough to slow the sinking, six ton satellite faster than forecast just last week.
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/09/15/7782656-satellite-falls-faster-than-forecast
5. From Spacepolitics.com: Lawmakers familiar with U. S. space policy offer a generally favorable reception to NASA’s Space Launch System plans. The strategy to develop a new heavy lift rocket for future human exploration was unveiled on Wednesday.
http://www.spacepolitics.com/2011/09/15/congressional-reaction-to-the-sls-announcement/
A. From Florida Today: Kennedy Space Center director Bob Cabana estimates the proposed Space Launch System could bring 2,000 jobs to the NASA launch complex by around 2016.
http://space.flatoday.net/2011/09/cabana-new-rocket-could-add-2000-ksc.html
B. From the Huntsville Times: NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center will host a Sept. 29 “industry team” for contractors interested in work on NASA’s Space Launch System, the heavy lift rocket that will form the cornerstone of NASA’s future human space exploration plans.
http://blog.al.com/space-news/2011/09/nasa_will_spell_out_new_rocket.html
C. From the Houston Chronicle: Norm Augustine, who chaired the White House sponsored U. S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee in 2009, sounds a note of caution over NASA’s Space Launch System. Is Congress prepared to provide sustained funding?
http://blog.chron.com/sciguy/2011/09/as-nasa-pols-celebrate-their-rocket-plan-a-splash-of-cold-water/
6. From the Coalition for Space Exploration: Planetary scientists believe the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is close to a new discovery about the history of water on Mars. The findings are coming from the soil and rock chemistry on the rim of the Endeavour crater.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/blog/mars-rover-opportunity-stand-by-for-new-discovery
7. From the Los Angeles Times: A bright light streaked across the darkened skies of the U. S. Southwest on Wednesday, raising all kinds of speculation about its origin. It was most likely a very small near-Earth asteroid, perhaps no larger than a basketball, an expert says Thursday. The Earth overtook the fragment like it was “road kill,” he explains.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-asteroid-20110916,0,2677643.story
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