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Monday’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space-related developments from the weekend as well as the start of the new work week. The countdown for NASA’s next to last space shuttle mission begins Tuesday. The launching of Endeavour on Friday is expected to draw a half-million spectators to Central Florida — among them Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, wife of Endeavour commander Mark Kelly. NASA’s astronaut corps shrinks as flight opportunities dry up. NASA looked hardest at spacecraft rather than rocket design in the commercial space transportation development awards it made last week. A partnership between NASA and the European Space Agency for robotic Mars missions deals with a financial setback. A SETI observatory in Northern California is mothballed in response to a funding shortage. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk envisions commercial transportation to Mars within two decades. An Ariane 5 launches two communications satellites. A Japanese Earth observation satellite loses power. SpaceShipTwo sets a glide test milestone. Was Enterprise a “hand me down” for New York City? A look at key space policy events planned for the week ahead.
1. From Space.com, April 22: Shuttle Endeavour undergoes preps for a launching on Friday at 3:47 p.m., EDT, on the next to last space shuttle mission. The lift off of shuttle for the International Space Station with six astronauts and the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer is expected to draw a record crowd to Florida’s space coast. Hotels far and wide are booked solid.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/11462-nasa-space-shuttle-endeavour-launch-florida-crowd.html
A. From the CBS News, April 25: Endeavour commander Mark Kelly tells CBS Anchorwoman Katie Couric that his wife, wounded Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, has received medical clearance to attend Endeavour’s launching. Giffords is recovering at the Texas Medical Center in Houston from a gunshot wound received at a Jan. 8 Tucson political rally.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/04/24/national/main20056914.shtml
B. From ABCnews.com, April 24: Giffords appearance will not be a public event.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/gabrielle-giffords-ready-shuttle-launch-doctors-report-improvement/story?id=13446310
C. From the Associate Press via Yahoo.com, April 24: From a public perspective, Endeavour’s upcoming flight may be as much about Mark Kelly, the mission commander, and his wife, Gabrielle Giffords, as NASA’s efforts to equip the space station with a ground breaking science experiment and the looming retirement of the shuttle program, the AP reports.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110424/ap_on_sc/us_space_shuttle_drama
D. From the Orlando Sentinel, April 24: A look at shuttle Endeavour’s primary payload, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, a built-for-space particle detector. Proponents believe the AMS may characterize primordial antimatter and dark matter. The presence of primordial anti-matter is an anticipated outcome of the big bang, the theoretical explosion that created the universe nearly 14 billion years ago. Critics contend the AMS will not detect anything not already spotted using terrestrial particle accelerators. .
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/space/os-shuttle-endeavour-ams-20110424,0,3031985.story?page=2
2. From the New York Times, April 23: It’s a wistful time for NASA’s astronaut corps as the last two shuttle missions unfold. Twenty astronauts left over the past year as the prospects for future flights dwindled. The U. S. will turn over all orbital transportation to the Russians, while U. S. commercial companies rally establish new capabilities. The astronaut corps now counts 61, down from a peak of 150 just 11 years ago.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/24/science/space/24astronaut.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=NASA&st=cse
3. From Spaceflightnow.com: On April 18, NASA announced $270 million in Commercial Crew Development awards. Most of the funds from the second round of competition went to Boeing and SpaceX based on the merits of spacecraft design, rather than advances in propulsion.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1104/24ccdevselection/
4. From Space News, April 22: A short lived partnership between the European Space Agency and NASA for the robotic exploration of Mars has encountered a problem. NASA can no longer afford to develop a companion surface rover for a 2018 launch. The overall strategy included a joint 2016 Mars orbiter. ESA has issued a stop work order on the orbiter, while the two agencies work out plans for a single surface rover for the 2018 mission.
http://www.spacenews.com/civil/110425-esa-halts-exomars-orbiter.html
5. From Scientific American: Budget difficulties are forcing the SETI Institute to temporarily suspend search for alien lift activities based in northern Colorado. The Allen Telescope Array, the array of antennas that listen for signals from alien civilizations, will be “moth-balled.” Donors were notified of the action the weekend.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=budget-crunch-mothballs-telescopes-2011-04-24
6. From the Wall Street Journal, April 22: In a 16-minute video/audio report, Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, discusses and his hopes for commercial space transportation (last four minutes of the interview), including prospects for placing humans on Mars within 20 years.
http://online.wsj.com/video/elon-musk-ill-put-a-man-on-mars-in-10-years/CCF1FC62-BB0D-4561-938C-DF0DEFAD15BA.html?KEYWORDS=elon+musk
A. From Newsweek, April 24: Elon Musk discusses his space travel motivations.
http://www.newsweek.com/2011/04/24/interview-elon-musk.html
7. From Spaceflightnow.com, April 22: An Ariane 5 rocket successfully launches with communications satellites for the Middle East and Africa.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ariane/va201/launch/
A. From Spaceflightnow.com, April 22: The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s five-year-old Advanced Land Observing Satellite lost power on Friday.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1104/22alos/
8. From Space.com, April 22: SpaceShipTwo carries out its longest drop glide test flight at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. The 14 minutes, 31 second flight will be followed more additional tests flight leading to possible commercial operations next year.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/11472-virgin-galactic-spaceshiptwo-longest-glide-test-flight.html
9. From the New York Times, April 22: Did NASA’s decision to present New York’s Sea, Air and Space Museum with the shuttle Enterprise amount to casting off a hand me down? A columnist raises the question?
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/24/nyregion/is-a-regifted-space-shuttle-enterprise-in-ny-a-good-deal.html?_r=1
10. From Spacepolicyonline.com, April 22: Space policy related event scheduled for the week of April 25-29.
http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/pages/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1535:events-of-interest-week-of-april-25-29-2011&catid=67:news&Itemid=27
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