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Monday’s CSExtra features a roundup of space activities making headlines over the weekend and as a new work week begins. SpaceX prepares for an ambitious flight test of the company’s Falcon 9 rocket with a Dragon re-entry capsule. The Russian launch of a Proton rocket with three GLONASS navigation satellites — equivalents to U.S. global positioning system satellites — fails. NASA postpones shuttle Discovery’s final flight from mid-December to early February as engineers continue their troubleshooting of small fuel tank cracks. NASA looks to a non-governmental agency to manage the science aboard the U.S. portions of the International Space Station. The State Department considers a European proposed space code of conduct. A look at the young scientist whose findings are re-defining the search for extraterrestrial life.
1. From the Wall Street Journal, Dec. 6: SpaceX founder Elon Musk places the prospects for mission success for a Falcon 9 test flight this week, potentially on Tuesday at “50-50”. The Falcon 9 made headlines with a successful test flight in June. This time, SpaceX is licensed by the FAA to launch the Falcon 9 with an unmanned Dragon capsule that will attempt a successful re-entry. SpaceX is in the lead position in a NASA-fostered initiative to develop commercial crew as well as cargo services for the International Space Station. The Federal Aviation Administration issued a risk waiver for the flight, according to the WSJ. The Dragon capsule is equipped with three parachutes and extra thruster fuel to lower risks of the re-entry vehicle landing in the wrong place.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704493004576001853598597820.html?KEYWORDS=NASA
A. From Spaceflightnow.com, Dec. 4: SpaceX, conducts a 3.5 second hot fire test of the Falcon 9, setting up the first unmanned test flight of the rocket /Dragon combination this week. The Dec. 4 success followed aborted hot fire tests earlier on Dec. 4 and Dec. 3.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/002/101204staticfire/
B. From Florida Today.com, Dec 5: Columnist John Kelly takes a look at a possible turning point this week for SpaceX and NASA as the company embarks on the first of three NASA-sponsored test flights. Can the private sector begin to take on orbital space transportation at a cost savings to the government? Future test flights will require the Dragon to rendezvous with and berth with the space station. The first operational cargo delivery could come in late 2011.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20101205/COLUMNISTS0405/12050319/1086/John+Kelly++Enter+the+SpaceX+Dragon
2. From RIA Novisti, the Russian news service, Dec. 5: A Russian Proton rocket looses three navigation satellites after launching early Sunday. The satellites plummet into the Pacific Ocean, near Hawaii. Moscow orders an investigation. The lost GLONASS spacecraft are similar to the satellites that comprise the U.S. Global Positioning System, or GPS.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20101205/161637911.html
3. From Spaceflightnow.com, Dec. 3: NASA delays the launches of the shuttle Discovery from Dec. 17 to Feb. 3 and the shuttle Endeavour form Feb. 27 to April 1. The schedule changes will give shuttle managers and engineers more time to address small cracks in Discovery’s external fuel tank. The crack accompanied a Nov. 5 launch scrub due to a hydrogen leak that has since been repaired. NASA plans to carry out a late December launch pad fueling test of Discovery and other tests in a bid to replicate the stresses that produced the cracks.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts133/101203delay/index.html
A. From the Associated Press via the Washington Post, Dec. 3: The latest setback will prevent the first meeting in space between two blood relatives, twin brothers Mark and Scott Kelly. Mark Kelly will command Endeavour. Scott Kelly is the current commander of the International Space Station. He’s scheduled to descend to Earth aboard a Soyuz rocket in mid-March.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/03/AR2010120303109.html
4. From Aviation Week and Space Technology, Dec. 4: NASA’s space shuttle can serve as a valuable case study as NASA tackles new missions of human exploration. The Aviation Week retrospective raises issues that include matching resources to objectives, adequate testing of new hardware and building on proven systems.
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_generic.jsp?channel=awst&id=news/awst/2010/12/06/AW_12_06_2010_p68-271716.xml&headline=The%20Space%20Shuttle’s%20Lessons%20For%20The%20Future&next=0
5. From spacepolicyonline.com, Dec. 5: A list of major events related to space policy in the week ahead. The Space X Falcon 9 launch mentioned earlier may be the most significant. Meanwhile, Congress passed a second 2010 budget continuing resolution last week. NASA is among federal agencies not covered for spending at 2010 levels through Dec. 18, a day after the Senate plans to adjourn. The 2011 fiscal year began Oct. 1.
http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/pages/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1260:events-of-interest-week-of-december-6-10-2010&catid=67:news&Itemid=27
6. From Spacepolitics.com, Dec. 3: The U.S. State Department considers supporting a space “code of conduct” proposed by the European Union. The code would cover the mitigation of space debris and other activities that pose a threat to orbiting satellites from all nations. The code is intended to promote the peaceful uses of outer space.
http://www.spacepolitics.com/2010/12/03/coming-soon-a-us-decision-on-supporting-a-space-code-of-conduct/
7. From Popular Science Magazine, Dec 3: NASA initiates plan to select a non-Government organization to handle science operations aboard the International Space Station. The U.S. controlled portions of the station were designed a National Laboratory in 2008, opening use of the research facilities to other government agencies, universities and private companies.
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-12/nasa-aims-outsource-space-station-science-experiments
8. From the Wall Street Journal, Dec. 4: Felisa Wolfe-Simon, the scientist who led a NASA-funded study that re-defines the search for extraterrestrial life, is a determined free spirit, an up and coming Renaissance woman not afraid to let her long hair glow pink. The Wolfe-Simon led study found a strain of bacteria that thrives on toxic arsenic.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703989004575652940497021092.html?KEYWORDS=NASA
9. From Spacepolitics.com, Dec. 4: Former NASA astronaut Kathy Sullivan receives a nomination from the Obama Administration to serve as the Commerce Department’s assistant secretary for observation and prediction. The post includes responsibility for the National Weather Service,
http://www.spacepolitics.com/2010/12/04/briefs-sullivans-new-job-another-cr-and-editorials/
10. From Space.com, Dec. 3: The Geminids could be the best meteor display of 2010. Look to the skies during the week of Dec. 13. The shower is linked to the Earth’s passage through debris from the asteroid 3200 Phaethon. Usually, the meteor showers are associated with comet particles.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/spacewatch/geminid-meteor-shower-observing-tips-101203.html
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