CSExtra – Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Feb 1, 2011 | Blog, Coalition News, CSExtra

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Tuesday’s CSExtra features the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from around the globe: Shuttle Discovery makes an overnight return to a Kennedy Space Center launch pad, ending a long troubleshooting session into small cracks found on the external tank. A look at Sierra Nevada, one of the space companies competing for NASA funds to establish commercial space transportation services. Will there be enough funding for the most promising companies? In Hemphill, Texas, a small museum opens to commemorate the Columbia astronauts. The seven fliers perished eight years ago Tuesday, when their shuttle disintegrated during their descent to Earth, scattering debris across East Texas. The Columbia loss represents the last of three tragedies, the Apollo 1 fire and Challenger explosion as well as the Columbia breakup, that NASA memorializes each year with a National Day of Remembrance. This year’s memorials seemed all the more melancholy because of the uncertainty hanging over the future of human exploration. NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory, also known as the Curiosity rover, will need more funding. Astronomers question a significant 2010 exo-planet announcement. Virgin Galactic looks to Abu Dhabi for a possible spaceport.

1. From Spaceflightnow.com: Shuttle Discovery makes an over night return to the launch pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, following more than a month of troubleshooting in the Vehicle Assembly Building. Discovery is tentatively set for a Feb. 24 lift off on an 11-day assembly mission to the International Space Station. Shuttle managers plan to meet Feb. 18 to make a formal launch date determination. The flight has been idled since a Nov. 5 launch scrub. The spacecraft was rolled from the launch pad to the VAB on Dec. 22 for modifications to crack prone stringers on the external fuel tank.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts133/110201rollout/

2. From the New York Times:  A year ago, President Obama unveiled a NASA budget that spelled out a $6 billion investment over five years in the development of commercial space transportation services. But as 2010 ended, the Congress and White House agreed to $1.3 billion over three years, though the lesser measure remains unfunded. In Boulder, Colo., Sierra Nevada hopes to field a commercial success with some of the funding. While there was talk of making up the rest of the $6 billion in the “out years,” a Senate aide tells the New York Times that will not happen. If prophetic, the statement introduces a new uncertainty into the future of NASA nurtured commercial space transportation.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/01/science/space/01private.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&ref=science 
 

 

3. From the Dallas Morning News: Tuesday marks the eighth anniversary of shuttle Columbia’s disintegration over East Texas. In Hemphill, Texas a focal point for search teams in the hours and days following the tragedy, a small museum opens to commemorate the tragedy Columbia’s seven astronauts and their families and dogged search and rescue teams.
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2011/01/31/1844565/texas-museum-pays-tribute-to-fallen.html

A. From Space News:  In a question and answer session, Dr. Scott Parazynski, former NASA astronaut and physician, talks about the future of the Challenger Center for Space Science Education, whose board of directors he now chairs.  Youngsters have a natural fascination with space exploration, Parazynski tells Space News. It is organizations like the Challenger Center that help to keep their interest strong as they mature. The Challenger Center was established by the families of the astronauts who perished in the Jan. 28, 1986 explosion.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/01/science/space/01private.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&ref=science

B. From Collectspace: The Smithsonian Institution is considering the display of debris from Challenger and Columbia within a new shuttle gallery at the Air and Space Museum in Washington. The artifacts would help to illustrate the conditions that led to the tragedies on Jan. 28, 1986 and Feb. 1, 2003. The Museum will seek concurrence from the families of the two shuttle crews as well as NASA before proceeding.
http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-013111a.html

4. Two from the Space Review on future space policy:

A. In “Memorials and Malaise,” Space Review editor Jeff Foust examines the mood surrounding this year’s NASA’s National Day of Remembrance, the annual tribute to the 17 men and women who perished in the Apollo 1 fire and the shuttle Challenger and Columbia tragedies. Tuesday marks the eighth anniversary of the Columbia loss, the last of the Remembrance memorials. Foust finds the mood unusually anxious because of all the previously noted difficulties over identifying a clear, affordable and sustainable goal for the space program as the shuttle retires.
http://thespacereview.com/article/1770/1

B. In “All Space Politics is Local,” regular contributor Louis Friedman finds NASA’s legislative future increasingly in the hands of lawmakers with local interests — legislators representing the “space states” with installations facing the losses of contracts and jobs while the debate over the future of human space exploration continues. Friedman worries that as money becomes scarce, NASA’s mission could become fragmented in ways that fail to support the most inspiring initiatives.
http://thespacereview.com/article/1769/1

5. From Space News: NASA’s $2.5 billion Curiosity Mars Rover will need $82 million to maintain its planned November launch to the Red Planet, agency officials tell the NASA Advisory Council. The disclosure came Jan. 26 and was reported by the trade publication on Jan. 29. Jim Green, who heads NASA’s planetary sciences division, says the project has consumed all reserves. Also known as the Mars Science Laboratory, MSL was designed to traverse the Martian terrain assessing the habitability of the rocks and soil. The spacecraft is due at Mars in August 2012.
http://www.spacenews.com/civil/110128-mars-rover-need-cash.html

6. From USA Today: In 2010, astronomers claimed discovery of the first “Earth-like” planet in the habitable zone of another star. The exo-planet was given the name Gliese 581g. Now, though, some astronomers have begun to question the discovery.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2011-01-31-goldilocks-planet_N.htm

7. From Emirates 24/7.com: Virgin Galactic looks to Abu Dhabi for a future spaceport. The company plans to charge about $200,000 for a suborbital trip to space.
http://www.emirates247.com/news/virgin-galactic-wants-abu-dhabi-spaceport-2011-02-01-1.349881

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.