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.
Now on orbit – the Coalition for Space Exploration’s latest Think Outside the Circle PSA. Benefits of space surround us. Learn more about how technologies we develop to explore space keep us closer and safer on Earth.
Click here to watch the PSAand get free downloads.
Thursday’s CSExtra offers a collection of the latest reporting and commentary on space-related activities from around the globe. Opportunity, NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover, reaches an important new destination in its more than seven-year exploration of the Martian terrain. Endeavour crater may harbor mineral evidence of a past habitable environment. China may be nearing the launch of prototype space station hardware. NASA awards $10 million to seven rocket companies for suborbital research missions. The State of Florida pledges funds to step up the launch rate of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket; and the Kennedy Space Center prepares to re-designate a shuttle hangar for commercial space development activities that will create hundreds of new jobs. The launching of a U. S. Air Force hypersonic test plane encounters a one day weather delay. New York City as photographed from the International Space Station on a clear day. NASA and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission share recognition as innovative places to work. Huntsville, Ala., prepares for an Aug. 20 shuttle program celebration.
1. From USA Today and Florida Today: NASA’s Opportunity Mars Exploration Rover reaches the rim of the large crater Endeavour. Rovers Opportunity and Spirit landed on Mars in January 2004 for what were to be 90-day missions. Spirit’s mission ended earlier this year. Opportunity, however; has driven three years to reach Endeavour, where scientists hope to learn more about the planet’s past environment.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/2011-08-10-mars-rover-opportunity_n.htm
A. From Spaceflightnow.com: Opportunity will study clay minerals spotted on the crater terrain by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The clay formations suggest the region was once exposed to water for a long period of time.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1108/10opportunity/
B. From Scrippsnews.com: An editorial applauding the successes of NASA’s long-lived Opportunity rover.
http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/63439
2. From The Coalition for Space Exploration: China may be advancing plans to launch prototype hardware for an orbital space laboratory, Tiangong 1. The launch could occur by the end of August, according to a knowledgeable source. The new hardware would permit a test of docking technologies.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/blog/chinas-experimental-space-laboratory-tiangong-i
3. From the Los Angeles Times: NASA awards $10 million to seven emerging suborbital rocket companies to support low altitude research. They include four companies from California and one each from Texas, Colorado and Oregon.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/08/nasa-commercial-contracts-sub-orbit.html
4. From Florida Today: The state of Florida pledges $7 million to help SpaceX increase the flight rate of the Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110810/BREAKINGNEWS/110810029/State-pledges-7M-SpaceX-expand-Cape-facilities
A. From Florida Today. The Kennedy Space Center is close to the transfer of shuttle Orbiter Processing Facility 3 to Space Florida, an aerospace economic development agency, for use by a commercial company to develop a space taxi. Boeing and Space Florida are in negotiations for the arrangement that could bring 500-600 new jobs, according to Florida Today.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110811/NEWS02/108110332/Deal-may-create-up-600-jobs-KSC-could-approved-soon-director-says
5. From Spaceflightnow.com: Bad weather forces a one day postponement in the launching of a hypersonic flight test vehicle from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The lift off is reset for Thursday at 10 a.m., EDT.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1108/10minotaurhtv2b/
6. From Space.com and Ouramazingplanet.com: NASA astronaut Ron Garan, a member of the International Space Station crew, captures an image of New York City that reveals all five boroughs and Central Park on an unusually clear day.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/12598-post-astronauts-spy-beautiful-summer-day-nyc.html
7. From the National Journal: NASA and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission rate highest among federal agencies for innovation.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/tech/employees-rank-nasa-nrc-as-most-innovative-agencies-20110810
8. From the Huntsville Times: The City of Alabama, home to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, will host a community tribute to the space shuttle program and its many workers on Aug. 20 at the U. S. Space and Rocket Center.
http://blog.al.com/space-news/2011/08/nasa_sets_big_community_space.html
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 CSExtraand does not control and is not responsible for the content of any of these stories. The content available through CSExtracontains 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, visitwww.space.com or contact us via e-mail at Info@space.com.