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 PSA, get free downloads and enter to win prizes.
Thursday’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from around the world. In orbit, the Endeavour astronauts carry out an early pre-landing scan of the shuttle’s heat shielding. NASA announces plans for an ambitious robotic asteroid sample return mission. A look back at NASA’s just concluded Spirit Mars Exploration Rover mission. Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt, in a commentary, suggests the creation of a new space agency focused only on exploration. New Oval Office transcripts suggest President John F. Kennedy was concerned about the cost of and public support for the Apollo missions. Hawaii obtains a role in future U. S. exploration planning. Scientists spot what may be the most distant object in the universe.
1. From Florida Today: Endeavour’s astronauts carry out an early pre-landing inspection of the shuttle’s heat shielding on Thursday. The early inspection will permit the six shuttle astronauts to leave the 50-foot-long Orbiter Boom Sensor System at the space station. There, the camera and laser-tipped OBSS will serve as an extension to the station robot arm. The extra reach will furnish space walking astronauts with access to hard to reach places on the space station. Brackets to hold the boom in place will be fitted to the outside of the station during the Endeavour crew’s final mission spacewalk on Friday. Endeavour descends to Earth early June 1.
http://space.flatoday.net/2011/05/astronauts-complete-shuttle-damage.html
A. From Discovery.com: In space tears don’t fall. Endeavour astronaut Drew Feustel learned that lesson the hard way as his spacewalk with Mike Fincke neared an end on Wednesday. The space walker teared up in reaction to an anti-fogging solution on the inside of this space suit helmet. The discomfort passed in two minutes, and Feustel continued his activities.
http://news.discovery.com/space/tears-space-astronaut-spacewalk-110525.html
2. From Nature.com: NASA announces an ambitious unmanned asteroid sample return mission. The $800 million Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) will be launched in 2016 and head for the asteroid 1999 RQ36 to gather what might be samples of material rich in organic carbon molecules, possibly providing new insights into processes that led to the origin of life on the Earth.
http://blogs.nature.com/news/2011/05/nasa_plans_asteroid_sample_ret.html
A. From the Baltimore Sun: The OSIRIS-Rex mission has many partners. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center will lead the development.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-nasa-goddard-mission-20110525,0,1105010.story
3. From the Los Angeles Times: A look back at the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, whose mission ended on Wednesday. Spirit and a twin rover, Opportunity, landed on Mars in January 2004 for what was to be a 90-day mission. Spirit exceeded expectations and revealed evidence suggesting Mars was once warm and wet enough to harbor life.
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-mars-rover-spirit-20110526,0,5265949.story
4. From Space.com: Harrison Schmitt, the Apollo 17 astronaut and former U.S. senator, proposes that NASA be dismantled and elements joined with a new agency focused on human exploration of deep space. NASA has lost its focus, Schmitt claims on the May 25th, 50th anniversary of the speech by President John F. Kennedy before a joint session of Congress that set NASA on a course to carry out the Apollo moon landings.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/11789-nasa-replacing-apollo-astronaut-jfk-moon.html
A. From the Atlantic Magazine: In an Oval Office recording of a conversation between President Kennedy and NASA Administrator James Webb on Sept. 18,1963, Kennedy frets over the cost of the Apollo program and whether astronaut missions to the moon will be little more than a stunt. Transcripts were released Wednesday, the 50th anniversary of Kennedy’s moon speech to Congress.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/05/jfk-worried-moon-mission-was-a/239431/
B. From Time: The magazine looks back at Kennedy’s moon speech and the nation’s current appetite for space exploration.
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2074007,00.html
5. From the Hawaii Star-Advertiser: NASA and the state of Hawaii sign a two-year agreement to establish an International Lunar Research Park at the University of Hawaii-Hilo. The agreement will support human as well as robotic mission preparations.
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/122628204.html
6. From Space.com: NASA’s Swift mission may have spotted the most distant object in the universe with an April 2009 observation, scientists say. The gamma ray flash was measured at a distance of 13.14 billion light years. The universe was only a little more than 500 million years old.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/11785-space-explosion-farthest-object-grb-090429b-aas218.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 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.