To subscribe to CSExtra via RSS feed click here.
If you would prefer to receive CSExtra in e-mail format, e-mail us at Info@space.com with the word SUBSCRIBE in the subject line.
Sunday’s CSExtra features a roundup of the latest reporting and commentary on space developments around the globe. NASA’s Orion spacecraft continues to meet development milestones for a yet-to-be-defined future. A look at how the shuttle’s recovery from the Columbia tragedy both spawned and undermined NASA’s Constellation Program. The U.S. Air Force successfully launches a satellite to monitor potentially destructive space debris. Russia will step up Soyuz production for space tourism.
1. From Florida Today: Columnist John Kelly examines the future of Orion, the human spacecraft proposed by the Bush administration to replace the space shuttle for missions to the moon and Mars as well as the International Space Station. Orion began as a cornerstone of the Constellation back-to-the-moon program. Kelly notes Congressional reluctance to accept plans by the Obama Administration to limit Orion’s role to that of space station life boat. Lockheed Martin continues to achieve milestones in the spacecraft’s development. Kelly envisions at least a commercial market for Orion and at several other spacecraft now on the drawing board.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20100926/COLUMNISTS0405/9260329/1086/Orion+s+future+still+up+in+the+air
A. From Wayne Hale’s blog via NASAwatch: The former NASA space shuttle program manager recounts the financial difficulties confronting NASA’s Constellation program from the loss of the shuttle Columbia in 2003 forward. The earliest cost estimates for returning the shuttle to flight following the tragedy were unrealistic, Hale writes. NASA’s Administrator at the time, Sean O’Keefe, was unwilling to seek more money. NASA was faced with the choice or proceeding or dismantling the human space program. http://waynehale.wordpress.com/2010/09/23/6/
2. From Spaceflightnow.com: The U.S. Air Force launches a new space surveillance satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base. The satellite will monitor the accumulating man made debris in Earth orbit and the threat it poses to national security spacecraft. Lift off of the Space Based Surveillance Satellite was on Sunday at 12:41 a.m., EDT.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/minotaur/sbss/
3. From Ria Novosti: Officials of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, announce plans to step up Soyuz production in order to launch two tourists to the International Space Station after 2013.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20100925/160719217.html
4. From the Orlando Sentinel: In an editorial, the Sentinel notes a just concluded investigation by NASA’s Inspector General that found NASA Administrator Charles Bolden erred by making contact with an oil company in which he owns stock to discuss a NASA bio fuel research project. “We hope other federal officials, not just at NASA, will learn from Mr. Bolden’s mistake. With confidence in Washington at a low ebb, Americans have little stomach for ethically clueless conduct,” the Sentinel writes.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/os-ed-nasa-bolden-ethics-092510-20100924,0,7208789.story
5. From Discovery.com: An Italian-based research team finds seasonal variations in the methane levels of the Martian atmosphere. Is the presence of this waste gas, with the highest concentrations in the Martian autumn, caused by biological or geological activity, and why the variations? The measurements, but not the answers were gathered by NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor.
http://news.discovery.com/space/mars-methane-mystery.html
6. From the Denver Post: Lockheed Martin teams with students at the University of Colorado to develop a versatile, low-powered experimental satellite as part of ALL STAR, Agile Low-Cost Laboratory for Space Technology. The project is under way at the University of Colorado-based Colorado Space Grant Consortium.
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_16168375
Brought to you by the Coalition for Space Exploration, CSExtra is a daily compilation of space industry news selected from hundreds of online media resources. The Coalition is not the author or reporter of any of the stories appearing in CSExtra and does not control and is not responsible for the content of any of these stories. The content available through CSExtra contains links to other websites and domains which are wholly independent of the Coalition, and the Coalition makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or authenticity of the information contained in any such site or domain and does not pre-screen or approve any content. The Coalition does not endorse or receive any type of compensation from the included media outlets and is not responsible or liable in any way for any content of CSExtra or for any loss, damage or injury incurred as a result of any content appearing in CSExtra. For information on the Coalition, visit www.space.com or contact us via e-mail at Info@space.com.