Thursday’s CSExtra features new reporting and commentary on U.S. space policy and NASA’s future. More testing of the Ares 1 unlikely. Support for a shuttle extension. Russians, Europeans and Chinese rehearse a Mars mission. New climate report. Atlantis astronauts win acclaim with mission success. Enceladus photo shoot.
1. From the Orlando Sentinel: NASA Administrator Charles Bolden tells the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee his agency cannot afford further test flights of the Ares 1 rocket, something U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida has been pushing for. Nelson backed Bolden’s nomination as NASA administrator. The two men flew together on a 1986 shuttle mission.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/space/2010/05/bolden-at-odds-with-nelson-on-ares-i-tests.html
A. From Space News via NASAWatch.com: An op-ed from a Houston space shuttle worker who calls the shuttle’s looming retirement a mistake.
http://www.spacenews.com/commentaries/100517-no-time-retire-shuttle.html
B. A blog from the Houston Chronicle: What if the space policy advocates who support President Obama’s strategy and those who support Constellation are both wrong? Then, we go nowhere.
http://blogs.chron.com/sciguy/archives/2010/05/space.html
2. From Space.com: The Russian Space Agency makes crew selections for a mock Mars mission, three Russians, two Europeans and a Chinese. They will spend 520 days sequestered as part of the exercise known as the Mars500 project.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/missionlaunches/russian-mars500-crew-announced-100519.html
3. From Spaceflightnow.com: The much anticipated launching of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 is possible May 27-28, depending on an on-going U.S. Air Force evaluation of the rockets destruct system. The Falcon 9 is under development for the launching of cargo and possibly astronauts to the International Space Station.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/001/status.html
4. From Spacepolicyonline.com: While space is not directly affected, the House rejected further authorization of the America COMPETES act on Wednesday. This could be a reminder that even legislation supporting something as popular as STEM education initiatives faces difficulty in Washington’s politically charged environment.
http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/pages/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=903:pushback-in-the-house-on-authorizing-science-funding&catid=67:news&Itemid=27
5. From the Los Angeles Times: The National Academy of Sciences calls for strong action to cut green house gas emissions in the first of three reports. This and a similar story in the Washington Post make note that both NASA and NOAA characterized the past year as the warmest on record.
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-climate-change-20100520-6,0,7518254.story
6. From the AP via the Washington Post: The Atlantis astronauts use the spacewalk on Wednesday to un-tangle a power and data cable preventing the use of a laser sensor to check for damage to the shuttle’s heat shield and replace aging batteries on the space station. Space walker Steve Bowen wins the title “super hero” from fellow crew members.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/19/AR2010051900885.html
A. From Spaceflightnow.com: Thursday includes some light duty time for the crew of the shuttle Atlantis. During Wednesday’s spacewalk Mike Good and Steve Bowen accomplished all that was asked and more. They replaced four of six batteries on the station’s oldest solar power module, they un-snagged a power and data cable on the shuttle’s heat shield inspection boom and they finished the installation of a new communications antenna.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts132/100519fd6/index2.html
B. From the Boston Phoenix: Writer Christine Atturio reports on her visit to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center to witness the launching of her uncle Steve Bowen, one of the shuttle Atlantis crew, last Friday.
http://thephoenix.com/Boston/news/102397-my-uncle-the-astronaut/
7. From Discovery.com: A look at plans by the U.S. Air Force to develop a re-usable rocket. Test flights begin in 2013.
http://news.discovery.com/space/air-force-reusable-rockets.html
A. From Space.com: The U.S. Air Force X-37B, launched last month on an orbital test mission, may be a new spy plane, according to a technical advisor to the World Secure Foundation.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/businesstechnology/x-37b-space-plane-orbital-spy-100519.html
B. The Houston Chronicle version.
http://blogs.chron.com/sciguy/archives/2010/05/analysis_air_forces_shuttlelike_space_plane_not_a.html
8. From New Scientist: As they re-trace the early moments of the universe, scientists wonder if the big bang was followed by multiple episodes of rapid expansion, leaving tell tale signs still evident in the structure of the cosmos today.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20627614.200-big-bang-part-2-the-second-inflation.html?full=true
9. From Universe Today: Images of Saturn’s moon Enceladus — geysers and all — amaze thanks to NASA’s long-lived Cassini spacecraft.
http://www.universetoday.com/2010/05/19/incredible-images-of-enceladus-from-cassinis-latest-flyby/
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