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Monday’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting on space-related activities from around the world, plus a collection of weekend reporting. NASA is likely to look to Congress and Russia for the permission and agreements to extend the purchase of Soyuz transportation for astronauts headed to the International Space Station. Medical issues rise on the list of space station risks. NASA looks to orbital propellant depots to extend missions of the Space Launch System. Germany’s ROSAT satellite re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere. Astronomers seek funds for the Great Magellan Telescope. The Orionid meteor shower pleases sky watchers. Stennis turns 50. NASA astronaut Ron Garan’s station photos find new fans. Presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich favors private space development. Saturn’s moon Titan draws the interest of astrobiologists. Major space-related events scheduled for the coming week.
1. From the Orlando Sentinel, Oct. 22: NASA looks to extend a contract with Russia for Soyuz transportation of astronauts to and from the International Space Station until 2016 and possibly longer. NASA is already committed to spend $1.5 billion for the services over the next five years, a circumstance tied to the retirement of the space shuttle this summer.
http://thesent.nl/q1YJbc
2. From Florida Today, Oct. 23: Medical issues rise on the list of risks NASA and its partners face in managing the International Space Station. New studies suggest that the possibility of an illness forcing members of a station crew to return to Earth early may rival the threat of a destructive strike from orbital debris.
http://bit.ly/qdOVak
3. From the New York Times, Oct. 22: NASA examines the leveraging of orbital refueling stations to accelerate the launching of future deep space missions. Experts will gather at NASA next month to discuss an internal report on the prospects. According to the Times, NASA does not believe propellant depots would replace the need for the Space Launch System heavy lift rocket that the agency announced this summer it will pursue.
http://nyti.ms/nZDPvg
4. From Discovery.com, Oct. 23: The German space agency’s ROSAT X-ray observatory plunged back to Earth late Saturday, possibly over Southeast Asia. The spacecraft was launched in 1990 and long inactive before making an uncontrolled re-entry.
http://bit.ly/q6wtOv
A. From the New York Times, Oct. 22: Damage from falling satellite debris is considered a covered loss by many insurance policies, according to the Insurance Information Institute.
5. From the Houston Chronicle, Oct. 23: Astronomer Wendy Freedman is among those raising funds for the Giant Magellan Telescope, an optical observatory with a 25 meter primary mirror that promises to open up a previously unseen era — the first 400 million to one billion years after the big bang. Scientists expect to find the earliest galaxies and widen the search for Earth-like planets around other stars with the GMT. The observatory would be build in Chile, where clear, darkened skies are the norm.
http://bit.ly/prLjHF
6. From Space.com, Oct. 22: The Orionid meteor shower puts on a weekend show for sky watchers.
http://bit.ly/mVCHCn
7. From the Biloxi Sun-Herald of Mississippi: NASA’s Stennis Space Center turns 50. Today, the rocket test site hosts 5,400 employees, including workers from the U. S. Navy and other federal agencies.
http://bit.ly/oN0v1k
8. From Scientific American, Oct. 22: A sampling of the photos of the Earth and space taken by NASA astronaut Ron Garan during his near six month tour of duty aboard the International Space Station. Garan returned to Earth in September.
http://bit.ly/pFr63z
9. From Spacepolitics.com, Oct. 21: Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich would privatize human spaceflight if elected, he tells a Dallas gathering. The candidate says he would re-structure NASA and look to prizes as incentives for the future human exploration of space.
http://bit.ly/rogmcl
10. From Discovery.com: Saturn’s moon Titan seems to resemble a pre-biotic Earth. In the extreme cold of the distant moon, methane rather than water falls from the skies to fill streams and lakes. The environment keeps Titan high on the list of places that capture the interest of astrobiologists.
http://bit.ly/rixFTG
11. From Spacepolicyonline.com: A look at major space policy related events scheduled for the coming work week. The lineup includes a House Science, Space and Technology Committee hearing on NASA’s Commercial Crew Development initiative on Wednesday.
http://bit.ly/q0cqOk
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