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Tuesday’s CSExtra features the latest reporting and commentary on space activities from around the world. The SpaceX Falcon 9 launch is postponed at least 24 hours to troubleshoot a possible nozzle problem. Japan maneuvers a spacecraft into orbit around Venus. China is becoming a magnet for other nations wishing to partner in the exploration of space. Russia’s GLONASS satellite navigation network will survive Sunday’s launch failure, officials claim. Florida official claims many displaced space workers could find employment with new companies. Improving the search for Extraterrestrial life. The promise of solar sails. NASA moves to clean up former California rocket research site. Student science and math competition winners receive big bucks.
1. From Florida Today: SpaceX looks to no earlier than Wednesday for the launching of the Falcon 9 and Dragon capsule. The flight is the first of three NASA sanctioned test flights for the Falcon9/Orion combination. NASA is working with SpaceX to develop a commercial orbital space transportation system for cargo and astronauts headed for the International Space Station.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20101207/NEWS02/12070319/Cracks+delay+Falcon+9+rocket+launch
2. From the Coalition for Space Exploration: Japan’s Venus probe, AKATSUKI, will maneuver into orbit around the veiled planet on Tuesday. The spacecraft, launched on May 21, will include in its observations the planet’s high speed winds.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/blog/new-venus-arrival-japan%e2%80%99s-akatsuki-orbiter
3. From Space.com: China’s plans for a space station, the success of its second lunar mission and intentions to explore Mars are making the Asian power a magnet for other nations seeking to partner.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/missionlaunches/china-space-exploration-missions-101206.html
4. From the Moscow News: Russia GLONASS satellite navigational system will survive despite a launch failure on Sunday that wiped out three new spacecraft for the constellation.
http://themoscownews.com/russia/20101207/188260425.html?referfrommn
5. From Florida Today: Frank DiBello, president of Space Florida, a business development group tells the newspaper’s editorial board that he expects that up to half of the 6,000 area jobs lost as the space shuttle retires could return within three years. However, the development of new industry that produce those jobs depends on federal spending that is not assured.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20101207/BUSINESS/12070308/1006/NEWS01/Space+chief+upbeat+on+jobs
6. Two from Monday’s The Space Review, http://www.thespacereview.com:
A. In “Searching for ET,” Louis Friedman, retired executive director of The Planetary Society, outlines the need for a more focused strategy in the long running search for intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. The effort should be based on what we are learning from the growing numbers of exo-planets that have been discovered and life in extreme environments on Earth, Friedman writes. Mars, Europa, Titan, Enceladus may hold promise.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1736/1
B. In “Confronting Space Debris,” SR Editor Jeff Foust reviews a new book of the same title by a pair of Rand Corporation experts. A recent collision between U.S. and Russian spacecraft and Chinese ASAT test have justifiably raised concern about an issue. It may be quite some time, though, before an effective strategy for cleaning up the thousands of pieces of space junk emerges. So far, the risk level is considered acceptable. The Deepwater Horizon spill could serve as a case study for a call to action.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1735/1
7. From the Huntsville Times: The Marshall Space Flight Center’s Nano Sail D spacecraft emerges from a larger satellite, the Fast Affordable Science and Technology Satellite, over the weekend. FAST was launched from Alaska last month. Nano Sail D will test the use of solar sails to lower the orbits of aging satellites without the use of propellant.
http://blog.al.com/space-news/2010/12/nasa_launches_first_satellite.html
A. From Discovery.com: Will solar sails propel the future exploration of space?
http://news.discovery.com/space/are-solar-sails-the-future-of-space-travel.html
8. From the Los Angeles Times: NASA and state environmental officials in California strike an agreement to clean up the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in eastern Ventura County, the site for previous research into nuclear rocket propulsion. The site was contaminated after a 1959 incident, environmentalists claim. The objective is to clean much of the site by 2017.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/12/agencies-agree-to-clean-up-former-nuclear-research-facility.html
9. From the Associated Press via the Washington Post: Two high school students win top prizes of $100,000 in the Siemens Competition, a contest among top math and science students. One was inspired by the science fiction movie (and novel), “I, Robot,” and the other by star formation. Tom Jones, former astronaut, planetary scientist and member of the Coalition for Space Exploration’s board of advisors, served as the lead judge. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/06/AR2010120603910.html
10. From The Hill: In an interview, U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy, the nephew of John Kennedy, says he would like to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his uncle’s historic May 25, 1961 speech calling on America to lead the exploration of space with a new mission. That new mission would seek solutions to the nation’s mental health issues. Patrick Kennedy, 43, is leaving Congress after two decades, including early years marked by personal problems. He made the decision to leave following the death of another famous uncle, U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy.
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/132089-retiring-rep-kennedy-addiction-stigma-fuels-mission-to-help-others
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