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.
Thursday’s top space news features the latest reporting on space related activities from around the world: NASA Administrator Charles Bolden expresses confidence in the agency’s emerging human space flight agenda. NASA subs for injured Discovery astronaut Tim Kopra. Weather delays the launching of a Japanese cargo craft to the International Space Station. Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords will move to Houston for rehabilitation. The Supreme Court ruling on NASA background checks. A NASA probe nears a comet encounter. The space agency looks to amateurs for help in locating a tiny satellite. A grad students probes the mystery of a distant star.
1. From Space News: In an interview, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden affirms the agency’s partnership with the commercial space sector, explaining it will enable NASA to pursue deep space exploration. President Obama spelled out America’s future in space in an April address. The president’s remarks should have wiped away bad memories of the 2011 budget roll out that cancelled the previous administration’s Constellation program, Bolden says. NASA will meet Congressional near term expectations for a heavy lift rocket and multi-purpose crew capsule, he vows. The State Department will guide future cooperation in space with China. http://www.spacenews.com/profiles/110117-charles-bolden.html
2. From spaceflightnow.com: Astronaut Steve Bowen will replace Discovery crewman Tim Kopra on a long delayed mission to the International Space Station. Discovery’s final mission is now scheduled for a Feb. 24 lift off. Kopra, one of two spacewalkers, was injured on Saturday in a bicycle accident. http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts133/110119kopra/
3. From Ria Novosti: The Japan Aerospace and Exploration Agency postpones the launch of the second unmanned HTV cargo mission to the International Space Station. Bad weather forces a slip in the launching from Thursday to early Saturday. When the Kounotori spacecraft approaches the station, astronauts Catherine Coleman and Paulo Nespoli will nab it with the Canadian robot arm. http://en.rian.ru/science/20110120/162217712.html
4. From Politico.com: Arizona Congressman Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot during a Jan. 8 political rally in Tucson, stands with help on Wednesday. The wife of NASA astronaut Mark Kelly will be moved from a Tucson hospital to Houston on Friday for the next phase of her recovery from a head injuries. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47860.html
5. From the Pasadena Star-News of California: The U. S. Supreme Court backs NASA in a challenge from Jet Propulsion Laboratory employees, who objected to the background security checks that accompanied former President Bush’s Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12, The workers claimed the checks were too intrusive. http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_17140650
6. From Spacepolitics.com: The House Science, Space and Technology committee announces its Republican lineup for the new Congress. There’s lots of new faces among veteran members. U. S. Rep. Pete Olson, a Houston Republican, who was in line to chair the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee will pursue other responsibilities instead.
http://www.spacepolitics.com/2011/01/19/republican-roster-for-house-science-committee-announced/
7. From USA Today: NASA’s recycled Stardust NeXT mission spacecraft is nearing a Valentine’s Day encounter with the comet Temple I. In 2005, the NASA’s Deep Impact probe slammed into Temple 1, exposing the interior to scientists. Since then, the comet has swept close to the sun and began a journey back to the outer solar system. Stardust NeXT will provide a look at how the sun changed the comet. http://content.usatoday.com/communities/sciencefair/post/2011/01/nasa-plans-valentines-day-comet-rendevous/1
8. From the Associated Press via the Huntsville Times: NASA seeks help from the amateur radio community in locating the orbiting NanoSail-D spacecraft. NanoSail-D was ejected on Wednesday from the larger Fast Affordable Scientific and Technology Satellite launched in November.
http://www.al.com/newsflash/index.ssf/story/nasa-seeks-publics-helping-finding-tiny-satellite/063c57ae87d44d3cb29d816fd6ea60af
9. From the Los Angeles Times: Standing at Mt. Wilson under a darkened sky, graduate student Brian Kloppenberg probes a centuries old mystery: Why does the star Epsilon Aarigae fluctuates in brightness every 27.1 years. The bright star lurks 2,000 light years away. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-aurigae-star-20110120,0,5403794.story?page=1
10. From Discovery.com: A look at Project Icarus and its post World War II heritage. Icarus is a recent plan to develop an unmanned interstellar science probe using a fusion propulsion source. http://news.discovery.com/space/tau-zero-project-daedalus-icarus-110119.html
11. From NASAwatch.com and comingsoon.net:: The 2002 moon rock theft from NASA’s Johnson Space Center is headed toward a feature film based on a book of the account, Sex on the Moon. http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=73369
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.