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Friday’s CSExtra presents the latest reporting on space related activity from around the world. The threat to orbiting spacecraft, including the International Space Station, from man made junk in Earth orbit has reached a tipping point, according to a new National Research Council report. NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover finds a hint of ancient habitable conditions on the Red Planet at its latest destinations, Endeavour Crater. China becomes only the third nation to reach the L2 Lagrange point with a spacecraft. Talk of altering Russian space management. In the Pinwheel Galaxy, a star explodes. Preserving historic sites on the moon. Mining asteroids could bring resources to Earth, a Chinese study suggests.
1. From The Coalition for Space Exploration: The impact hazards to the International Space Station as well as the many science, commercial and military satellites circling the Earth from accumulations of orbital debris have reached a “tipping point,” according to a new report from the National Research Council. A panel of experts suggests NASA needs a new strategic plan as well as resources to deal with the increasing threat that collisions among existing debris will create even more fragments.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/blog/new-report-flags-orbital-debris-threat
A. From Slate.com: It may be time to actively sweep Earth orbit of thousands of pieces of debris from damaged or aging satellites and rocket bodies whipping around the Earth.
http://www.slate.com/id/2302832/
2. From The New York Times: In its eighth year on the Red Planet, NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is finding further chemical and mineral evidence of an ancient warmer and wetter environment at Endeavour crater — conditions that may have been suitable for microbial life.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/02/science/space/02mars.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=NASA&st=cse
A. From Spaceflightnow.com: Opportunity’s work at Endeavour crater is akin to a “whole new mission,” say NASA managers. The terrain at the 14-mile wide depression is unlike anything the camera-equipped rover has witnessed. Opportunity, along with its now inactive companion rover Spirit, landed on Mars in January 2004. The initial mission was to span 90 days.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1109/01opportunity/
3. From Space.com: China becomes only the third nation to place a spacecraft at the distant L-2 Lagrange point, a region in space where the gravitational pulls of the sun and the Earth are equal. China accomplished the feat recently by moving an aging lunar probe, Chang’e 2, to the Lagrange point.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/12807-china-moon-probe-deep-space-lagrange-point.html
4. From Spacepolicyonline.com: In Russia, some space officials are suggesting changes in management that would realign the program more closely with the military. The discussion follows recent multiple spacecraft losses, including the Aug. 24 loss of a Progress space freighter on its way to the International Space Station.
http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/pages/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1825:roscosmos-deputy-suggests-restructuring&catid=91:news&Itemid=84
5. From Space.com: In a galaxy 24 million light years away, M1O1, also known as the Pinwheel Galaxy, there is new evidence of a supernova. The website offers some pointers on where and how to look for a galaxy with an exploding star.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/12806-supernova-skywatching-tips-star-explosion-sn2011fe.html
6 From Science Insider: NASA takes measures to protect historic sites on the moon, including the Apollo landing zones, as dozens of private groups compete to capture the $30 million Google X-Prize with lunar missions. Compliance will be voluntary under the terms of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty.
http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2011/09/nasa-aims-to-protect-apollo.html?ref=hp
7. From Discovery.com: Asteroids that approach the Earth could be a good thing, a Chinese study suggests. The space rocks may hold minerals and other resources that could be mined and used on the Earth.
http://news.discovery.com/space/capturing-lazy-asteroids-mining-neo-110901.html
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.