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Monday’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from around the world, including a summary from the weekend. Europe reaches an agreement on a $13 billion, multiyear space investment strategy despite economic challenges. U.S. commercial space companies count down for the opportunity to re-establish a U.S. human launch capability. A dearth of U. S. commercial liquid fueled rocket engine development troubles some. The Pentagon unveils a new space policy document. NASA establishes an advisory panel on wider domestic uses of remote sensing and spacial navigation assets. More speculation swirls over a forthcoming announcement from NASA’s Curiosity science team. Is British entertainer Sarah Brightman serious about a trip to space? China launches an Earth observation satellite. Russia looks to Kazakhstan and the Ukraine for cooperation in space. A look at major space policy related activities scheduled for the week ahead.
1. From The International Herald Tribune via The New York Times, Nov. 24: Europe comes together on a $13 billion, three-to-five year space exploration strategy. The agreements forged last week required compromise in response to economic challenges. “Member states recognize that space is not an expense, it’s an investment,” notes Jean Jacques-Dordain, the European Space Agency’s director general.
http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/24/europe-reaches-budget-deal-on-space/?smid=tw-share
2. From Florida Today, Nov. 25: America’s commercial space industry counts down to its first human mission. The flight will restore a capability that came to a close with the end of NASA’s shuttle program in July 2011. We’re at 507 days and counting, notes one executive involved in the effort.
3. From The Orlando Sentinel, Nov. 25: Some experts express concern over a lack of U.S. private sector rocket engine development using liquid fueled propulsion. Heritage Russian hardware seems the less expensive alternative.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/space/os-orbital-launch-soviet-engines-20121125,0,4583061.story
4. From Space News, Nov. 21: A recent defense space policy document cautions against deliberate interference with the owned or relied upon space systems of the United States. The Oct. 18 document codifies statements outlined in previous DOD documents from the Obama Administration. One feature is a pledge for more cooperation in the mitigation of the hazards posed by manmade orbital debris.
A. From Florida Today, Nov. 24: Columnist John Kelly notes the new U.S. space policy sounds a cooperative note for dealing with the hazards of orbital debris that jeopardize the activities of all nations with assets in Earth orbit.
5. From Spacepolicyonline.com, Nov. 24: NASA establishes an Applied Sciences Advisory Committee. The panel will advise the agency on wider use of remote sensing and geospatial information at the state and local level.
http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/news/nasa-established-applied-sciences-advisory-committee
6. From New Scientist, Nov. 23: Gilbert Levin, a scientist involved in NASA’s Viking Lander missions to Mars in the 1970s, is among those eager to hear a much anticipated announcement from NASA’s Curiosity rover mission science team. Could it involve organics, the chemical building blocks of life? A Levin Viking experiment raised the prospect.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn22532-curiosity-result-could-confirm-mars-life-says-levin.html
A. From USA Today, Nov. 25: Speculation over life on Mars has been long running, and sometimes spectacular, writes Chris Carberry in an opinion blog.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2012/11/25/mars-discovery-rover-life/1725813/
B. From The Los Angeles Times: A regional dust storm in the Martian southern hemisphere begins to show signs of global impact.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-nasa-mars-dust-storm-20121124,0,855406.story
7. From Russia Today, Nov. 23: Speculation swirls around Great Britain’s Sarah Brightman and whether the entertainer is really headed to orbit as a Russian space tourist.
http://rt.com/art-and-culture/news/sarah-brightman-space-tourist-401/
8. From Spaceflightnow.com, Nov. 25: China launches an Earth observing mission, possibly for naval surveillance activities.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1211/25longmarch/#.ULM_8uRjp49
9. From Itar-Tass, of Russia, Nov. 23: Russia looks to cooperation with Kazakhstan and the Ukraine to a series of unpiloted lunar missions in 2015-17.
http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/580155.html
10. From Spacepolicyonline.com: A look at space policy related activities scheduled for the week ahead.
http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/news/events-of-interest-week-of-november-26-december-1-2013
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