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Monday’s CSExtra offers a collection of the latest reporting on space related reporting and commentary from around the globe, plus a roundup of weekend developments. Commentaries urge NASA to reverse course on the shuttle’s retirement and improve project cost management. Europe looks to 2013 for a lifting body flight test. Virgin Galactic looks to powered test flights of SpaceShipTwo. A recent NOAA appointee warns of U. S. weather satellite lapses. A new iPhone app is suited for astronauts. NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity nears the end of a long trek. Canada’s space spending faces a decline. North America to miss out on a lunar eclipse. The California Space Authority dissolves over funding. A new broadband service may jeopardize GPS receivers. A look at space activities scheduled for the week ahead.
1. From the New York Daily News, June 12: In an op-ed, Chris Kraft, a former NASA Johnson Space Center director, and co-author Scott Spencer urge the nation to reverse course on plans to retire the space shuttle fleet. The shuttle provides a safeguard against a potential uncontrolled re-entry of the 400 ton International Space Station, which could jeopardize populated areas around the world, they warn. Kraft suggests an unspecified delay in the upcoming Atlantis mission, while NASA re-starts the production of external fuel tanks and rocket boosters to resume shuttle operations ASAP.
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2011/06/12/2011-06-12_why_we_must_save_the_space_shuttle_if_the_intl_space_station_is_disabled_we_need.html
2. From Florida Today, June 11: In an editorial column, Florida Today’s John Kelly looks at a chronic issue confronting NASA — schedule delays and cost overruns on major projects, like the James Webb Space Telescope and the Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity rover. Each project shares common traits — an eagerness on NASA’s part to present an initial favorable cost profile to budget makers and confidence in addressing significant technical challenges. The agency’s credibility is at stake in tough financial times, Kelly writes.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110612/COLUMNISTS0405/106120317/John-Kelly-Shedding-light-NASA-delays?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Space%20News
3. From Spaceflightnow.com: June 10: The European Space Agency is close to approving an Italian effort to test fly a lifting body spacecraft that would launch, orbit the Earth and re-enter, descending into the Pacific under parachute for recovery. The flight could unfold as soon as 2013.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1106/10ixv/
4. From Space.com, June 10: At Virgin Galactic, SpaceShipTwo, marching through a step-by-step test regime, is moving closer to powered flight.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/11928-virgin-galactic-spaceshiptwo-test-flights-space-tourism.html
5. From Spacepolitics.com, June 10: Kathryn Sullivan, the former NASA astronaut and recently confirmed NOAA assistant director for environmental observation and prediction, warns spending cuts could leave gaps in the numbers of polar orbiting weather satellites that gather data for the most effective prediction modeling.
http://www.spacepolitics.com/2011/06/10/a-pretty-bleak-picture-for-a-weather-satellite-program/
A. From Spaceflightnow.com, June 10: United Launch Alliance sends the NASA Aquarius/SAC-D mission successfully hurtling into orbit early Friday from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The six nation, $400 million dollar satellite mission will measure changes in ocean salinity levels and their impact on weather patterns and changing climate. NASA’s major partner is Argentina.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/delta/d354/
6. From Wired.com: June 10: NASA’s final shuttle mission will carry a pair of Apple iPhones with a special application that will permit space station astronauts to determine their altitude, orbital position as well as radiation levels. Odyssey Space Research developed the software application called SpaceLab. The phones will remain aboard the station until September, when they are scheduled to return aboard a Soyuz spacecraft.
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/06/iphone-space-shuttle/
7. From CNN.com, June 10: NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity rover is closing in on Endeavour crater. The golf cart-sized robotic geologist has covered nearly 11 miles in three years on its journey to the big Martian depression. Two miles to go.
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/06/10/are-we-there-yet-mars-rover-nears-crater/?iref=allsearch
8. From NASAwatch.com and Spaceref, June 10: The Canadian Space Agency’s record budget faces a significant reduction, according to planning documents. Future priorities will be focused on the distribution of information gathered from space assets to the public.
http://spaceref.ca/canadian-space-agency-watch/canada-space-agency-moves-forward-with-executing-next-space-plan.html?utm_content=awesm-publisher&utm_medium=srs.gs-copypaste&utm_source=direct-srs.gs
9. From Space.com, June 11: Wednesday of this week will bring a long total lunar eclipse. Bad news, though, for those in North America: The eclipse will occur during day light hours and not be visible. The Indian Ocean will afford the best viewing.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/11938-long-total-lunar-eclipse-june-15-moon.html
10. From the Lompoc Record of California, June 10: The California Space Authority, an organization that promoted the aerospace industry in the Golden State, announces its disbandment. The decision came when expectations of federal funding disappeared.
http://www.lompocrecord.com/news/local/military/vandenberg/article_2b703680-9397-11e0-8493-001cc4c002e0.html
11. From the National Journal, June 10: Congress will examine the effects that a new broadband service offered by LightSquared will have on Global Positioning Satellite System signals. The signals could overpower GPS receivers on aircraft and in use elsewhere.
http://techdailydose.nationaljournal.com/2011/06/house-subcommittees-to-examine.php
12. From spacepolicyonline.com, June 12: Space policy related activities scheduled for the week ahead.
http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/pages/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1630:events-of-interest-week-of-june-13-17-2011&catid=67:news&Itemid=27
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