CSExtra – Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Feb 15, 2011 | Blog, Coalition News, CSExtra

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Tuesday’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from around the globe: NASA is not spared as President Obama presents Congress with a 2012 budget that locks most spending at the 2010 level for the next five years. The spending plan is focused on a measured human exploration course beyond low Earth orbit and continued development of a commercial space transportation industry. NASA’s Stardust spacecraft makes a late Valentine’s Day close encounter with comet Tempel 1, though transmission of the imagery back to Earth is slowed.

1. From Space News: President Obama sends Congress a 2012 NASA budget proposal locked at $18.74 billion for the next five years, the same fate faced by other discretionary programs. For the coming year, the proposed spending plan falls $300 million less than the run out figure included in the 2011 White House budget submission, and $750 million less than contained in the 2010 NASA Authorization Act that President Obama signed last year. The 2012 spending plan nurtures a new heavy lift rocket and multi-purpose crew capsule, while backing a commercial space transportation industry.
http://www.spacenews.com/civil/nasa-budget-frozen-presidents-request.html 

A. From spacepolitics.com: President Obama’s proposed NASA budget for 2012 gets a frosty reception from a few vocal Republicans as well as Democrats. They include U. S. Senators Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, and Kay Bailey Hutchison, a Texas Republican, who teamed last year to help craft the 2010 NASA Authorization Act.  Some House Republicans suggest again that NASA be relieved of its climate research responsibilities and the funds used to advance human exploration.
http://www.spacepolitics.com/2011/02/14/congressional-reaction-to-the-budget-request/ 

 
B. From the Orlando Sentinel: The Administration’s proposed 2012 budget for NASA re-ignites opposition from Congress. The spending plans seek more than Congress wants to spend on commercial space transportation services and less than lawmakers anticipated for the development of a new heavy lift rocket.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/space/os-nasa-budget-released-20110214,0,635920.story 
 
C. From the Wall Street Journal: NASA’s proposed 2012 budget provides for a non profit organization to manage science activities aboard the International Space Station. Also the proposed $1.8 billion in spending on Earth sciences is 50 percent more than in 2009 and $150 million less than was projected early last year.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703703804576144770332576628.html?KEYWORDS=NASA 
 
D. From Spacepolicyonline.com: As part of the 2012 budget roll out, NASA offers new vision and mission statements, the first revisions for each in five years.:
http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/pages/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1418:nasas-new-vision-and-mission-statements-revealed-in-new-strategic-plan&catid=67:news&Itemid=27 

E. From the Washington Post: President Obama’s 2012 budget proposal projects flat spending pegged at the 2010 top line. Republican activists were looking to cut federal spending back to 2008 levels.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2011/02/budget-2012-nasa.html 

F. From Florida Today: The proposed 2012 budget casts NASA on an uncertain course. Last year’s projected budget growth disappears. Plans to develop a new heavy lift rocket slow.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110215/NEWS02/102150332/Freeze-would-slow-heavy-lift-rocket?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Home

G. From Space.com: How much of your tax dollar goes to NASA? The website does the computation and finds the answer is a half penny of every federal tax dollar.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/10849-nasa-budget-contribute.html

2. From Spaceflightnow.com: NASA’s Stardust probe sweeps close to comet Tempel 1 late Monday capturing 72 close-up photos. The encounter marked the first time a comet has been visited twice by spacecraft. NASA’s Deep Impact spacecraft slammed an impactor into Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1102/14stardustnext/

A. From the Associated Press via the Orlando Sentinel: Images from the Stardust spacecraft begin to reach the Earth early Tuesday.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/space/sns-ap-us-sci-valentine-comet,0,1521578.story
 
B. From Florida Today: Bad weather at a signal receiving station in Spain slows the reception of pictures from Stardust.  Distant rather than the desired close up images reach the Earth first.
http://space.flatoday.net/2011/02/glitches-delay-return-of-comet-images.html 
3. Two from The Space Review:
 
A.  In “Commercial Crew and NASA’s Tipping Point,” editor Jeff Foust predicts a key difference in this year’s budget debate, the role of commercial crew transportation services. If NASA Administrator Charles Bolden is correct, the space agency has irreversibly passed the tipping point on the discussion. When the final shuttle mission touches down late this year, NASA is through taking people to low Earth orbit.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1780/1
 
B. In “American Leadership,” regular contributor Louis Friedman examines the phrase and finds resonance when the U. S. leads cooperative exploration ventures. Space exploration is largely overlooked as a tool of foreign relations, Friedman suggests. The space station may hold a place for China. Russia and the U.S. could fare well with a soil sample return mission to Mars, he writes.
http://www.thespacereview.com./article/1778/1
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.