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Thursday’s CSExtra features the latest reporting on space related activities from the United States and abroad. In Washington, Republican lawmakers begin to line up plans to cut federal spending, including reductions at NASA and other science agencies. The reductions will draw opposition from Democrats and calls for deeper cuts from Tea Party backers that will lead to weeks of debate, according to reports. Against the political backdrop, a new Competitive Space Task Force urges policy makers to look urgently to the commercial sector for the transportation of astronauts to Earth orbit. Shuttle Discovery is nicked by a falling tool at the spacecraft’s Kennedy Space Center launch pad. Telescopes, new and old, shed a new light on the power and beauty of the universe.
1. From spacepolitics.com: House appropriators on Wednesday outline proposed cuts in federal spending for 2011, including a $379 million reduction in NASA’s 2011 budget.
http://www.spacepolitics.com/2011/02/10/house-appropriators-plan-a-budget-cut-for-nasa/
A. From spacepolicyonline.com: Federal science programs in general face significant cuts under the proposal from House appropriators: The Department of Energy’s Office of Science faces a $1.1 billion reduction. The National Institutes of Health would fall $1 billion. The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration would be reduced by $336 million.
http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/pages/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1403:update-nasa-cut-379-million-noaa-cut-336-million-in-house-appropriations-proposal-for-cr-for-rest-of-fy2011&catid=67:news&Itemid=27
B. From the Associated Press via the Washington Post: Republican leaders in the House look for even deeper cuts. The move seems sure to ignite weeks of debate with Democrats who will attempt to blunt the reductions and Tea Party backers who want additional savings.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/09/AR2011020902588.html
2. From Space.com: The Competitive Space Task Force, a conservative group, took flight this week with an announcement calling on the government to turn over more of its space agenda to the private sector. The political backdrop includes a new Congress pledged to cut spending and policy makers split over the future of civil space. Also, the President will present his 2012 spending plan to Congress within days. http://www.exploredeepspace.com/10803-private-spaceflight-support.html
A. From Aviation Week and Space Technology: The Liberty rocket proposed this week by Alliant Techsystems, of the U.S., and Astrium Space Transportation, of Europe, is powerful enough to carry any of the commercial capsules under development to replace the space shuttle. Liberty would unite the Ares 1 solid rocket first stage developed under NASA’s all but cancelled Constellation program and the first stage of Europe’s Ariane 5 rocket into a new two stage launcher.
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=space&id=news/asd/2011/02/09/03.xml&headline=CCDev-2%20Rocket%20Entry%20Would%20Carry%20Any%20Capsule
B. From the Salt Lake Tribune: Though Liberty’s backers are seeking development funding under NASA’s commercial space development program, Alliant Techsystems and Astrium intend to proceed with development of the launcher. There will be no shortage of commercial customers, ATK believes.
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/money/51221809-79/atk-space-liberty-rocket.html.csp
3. From Florida Today: Shuttle Discovery, tentatively scheduled for a Feb. 24 lift off, is slightly damaged at the launch pad by a falling tool. The damage to the external fuel tank’s insulating foam is minor and will not require a repair, the space agency determined on Wednesday. Discovery’s supply mission to the International Space Station has been idled since Nov. 5 by fuel tank cracks.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110210/NEWS02/102100311/1086/Damage+from+fallen+tool+insignificant++NASA+says
4. From Discovery.com: Looking at the universe in a “new light.” The Netherlands, France, Germany and the United Kingdom have allied to produce a new radio telescope, LOFAR, the Low Frequency Array. LOFAR’s imagery includes a portrait of distant super massive black holes.
http://news.discovery.com/space/ready-to-see-the-universe-in-a-new-light.html
5. From Universe Today: A composite image of Arp 147 from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Space Telescope reveals regions of intense star birth and a ring of black holes and neutron stars produced by the intersection of elliptical and spiral galaxies.
http://www.universetoday.com/83197/chandra-captures-giant-ring-of-black-holes/#more-83197.
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