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Monday’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from around the world, including a roundup of weekend activities. Scientists gather this week to discuss the latest findings from NASA’s Kepler mission — launched in 2009 to search for Earth-like planets circling other stars. This week marks the start of the 35th annual expedition to the South Pole by scientists to gather meteorites preserved in the snow pack. Russia goes it alone in efforts to establish contact with a Mars mission stranded in Earth orbit. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden outlines his agency’s ambitious agenda. Enceladus glistens before Cassini. Florida redistricting could mean one fewer legislator in Congress primed to support space exploration.
1. From the New York Times, Dec. 2: This week, NASA hosts the first Kepler Science Conference, nearly three years after the launching of the Kepler observatory on a mission to look for Earth-like, exo-planets in the Milky Way. If there is animal life elsewhere in this region of the universe, the locales could be few and far between, experts suggest to the Times. http://nyti.ms/uibAhl
A. From Space.com Dec. 2: Astronomers using ground-based telescopes announce evidence for 18 new alien planets. Each of these alien worlds rivals Jupiter in size, they say. The number of alien planet discoveries now exceeds 700. http://bit.ly/vLs5Ti
2. From the Washington Post, Dec. 4: A small team of scientists has gathered near the South Pole to search for meteorites preserved on the expansive ice sheet. The space rocks stand out like cattle waiting for round up. Over the next six weeks, the small research team will gather what they can. The bounty has a history of revealing much about the solar system’s earliest period. It’s the 35th annual expedition to Antarctica. http://wapo.st/rA2iKD
3. Voice of Russia, Dec. 3: Russia intends to attempt contact with its stranded mission to the Martian moon Phobos, but without the help of the European Space Agency. The goal, according to this report, is to gain control of the probe, which has been stranded in Earth orbit since its launching on Nov. 8. The craft can no longer make the journey to Mars, say European officials. http://bit.ly/sZxzsA
A. From USA Today, Dec. 4: The European Space Agency brings an end to efforts to establish contact with Russia’s Mars probe. One Russian mission planner informs the newspaper by e-mail he and colleagues would like to make another attempt at the ambitious mission. http://usat.ly/smCEn6
B. From NASAspaceflight.com, Dec. 4: Russia’s Phobos Grunt mission is likely to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere and burn up during January. http://bit.ly/rpFYh0
4. From the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Dec. 3: In an op-ed, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden outlines the U. S. space program’s ambitious agenda. Paraphrasing JFK, he notes NASA will tackle the difficult and not what is easy in order to “benefit all mankind.” http://bit.ly/sVRSP2
5. From Spaceflightnow.com, Dec. 3: Saturn’s ice-covered moon Enceladus gleams in new radar imagery gathered by NASA’s Cassini mission. http://bit.ly/tMKFQu
6. From Florida Today, Dec. 3: Florida redistricting, which would decrease the number in Congress representing Brevard County, home to NASA, military and commercial space launch activity, could harm all of those in the space community, writes columnist John Kelly. http://on.flatoday.com/rVq0cI
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