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Thursday’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting on space related activities from around the globe. China achieves the nation’s first space docking, fueling speculation about Beijing’s future space aspirations. Scientists in the U. S. and Europe uncloak evidence of ancient underground water on Mars. A Russian cargo craft docks with the International Space Station. President Obama meets with NASA’s final space shuttle crew. NASA looks to a top scientists to lead the NASA Advisory Council.
1. From Spaceflightnow.com: China achieves a historic milestone on Wednesday as two of the nation’s spacecraft dock in Earth orbit, establishing a capability for the assembly of a future space station. The linkup at 1:28 p.m., EDT, joined the un-piloted Shenzhou-8 spacecraft launched earlier this week and the Tiangong-1, a space lab, launched in late September. Three Chinese astronauts could follow on the next mission to dock with the orbital lab, according to the website report.
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A. From the Globe and Mail of Canada: The last human to walk on the moon, Apollo 17 commander Gene Cernan, suggests China intends to colonize the moon. Cernan spoke before a symposium sponsored by the Canadian Aerospace Industries Association.
B. From the BBC: News of the Chinese spacecraft docking makes front page news across the country. Some colorful accounts compare the operation to lovers kissing.
C. From Xinhua.net of China: In a collection of news updates on the Shenzhou-8 docking, the Chinese say two more docking missions with the Tiangong-1 are planned in 2012. China intends to assemble an independent space station around 2020.
D. From the Christian Science Monitor: With the successful docking, China matches capabilities possessed by the U. S., Russia, European and Japanese space agencies. The feat raises speculation about U. S. and Chinese cooperation for the future exploration of Mars. With its large economy, China could be an important ally, say experts.
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E. From Space News: John Holdren, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, testifies Wednesday on Obama Administration talks with the Chinese before a House oversight panel. Holdren defends talks that may have violated a congressional ban aimed a preventing technology transfers. Holdren says the benefits of the discussions outweigh the risk, including insight into Chinese flu strains and restrictions on the import of U. S. products.
http://bit.ly/sOxyJi
2. From Space.com: Imagery of the Martian surface gathered by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the European Space Agency’s Mars Express find clay minerals that suggest the Red Planet was once warmer and wet. However, the predominate clay mineral found in the research suggests that most of the Martian water flowed underground. Volcanic activity or impacts from asteroids and comets would have brought the water to the surface temporarily.
http://bit.ly/uNsOrT
3. From Spaceflightnow.com: Early Wednesday’s Russia’s Progress 45 supply craft docks with the International Space Station. The freighter lifted off Sunday, easing worries of a potential mid-November evacuation of the International Space Station, prompted by a late August Soyuz launch failure. The latest Progress reaches the station with nearly three tons of cargo.
4. From Collectspace.com: President Obama met this week with the crew of NASA’s final shuttle mission at the White House. The commander in chief receives a blue flight jacket adorned with recent and historic shuttle mission patches.
5. From spacepolicyonline.com: NASA names Steve Squyres, a Cornell University planetary geologist, to head the independent NASA Advisory Council. Squyres is best known as the principal investigator for NASA’s Spirit and Opportunity Mars Exploration Rover missions.
http://bit.ly/s57GJS
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