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Tuesday’s CSExtra features the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from around the world: In Florida, officials at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center seek proposals from the private sector and other government agencies for the use of signature facilities like the shuttle launch pads, hangars and Vehicle Assembly Building after the shuttle retires. NASA’s future appears muddled as President Obama prepares to deliver a closely watched State of the Union address tonight and Congress considers a resolution that would roll government spending back to pre-Obama levels. In Washington, NASA announces plans for the annual Day or Remembrance, honoring the 17 astronauts who perished in the Apollo 1 fire and the shuttle Challenger and Columbia tragedies. Astronaut Mark Kelly, wife of critically wounded Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, is one to two weeks away from a decision on whether to command the Endeavour mission in late April. NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft whipped past Uranus 25 years ago this week, and some scientists are plotting a return mission. Experts ponder the next destinations for human explorers.
1. From Spaceflightnow.com: NASA’s Kennedy Space Center asks for proposals from the commercial sector as well as other government agencies for use of the shuttle’s programs launch pads, orbiter hangars, runway and Vehicle Assembly Building after the shuttle program retires later this year. The agency reserves the rights to facilities it will need for the new heavy lift rocket it is to develop.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1101/24kscinfrastructure/
2. From the New York Times: “What comes next is a muddle,” reports the New York Times, as it looks at NASA’s future beyond the space shuttle. There may not be enough money available to the space agency to nurture commercial space transportation or develop a new heavy lift rocket and spacecraft for deep space exploration, the Times reports.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/25/science/space/25nasa.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=NASA&st=cse
A. From the Washington Post: The House could vote Tuesday on a nonbinding resolution calling for major budget cuts in the 2011 fiscal year, reductions that would place pre-Obama spending at levels in place. The measure, if enacted in a follow up spending bill next month, could lead to furloughs for thousands of federal workers and the curtailing of major programs.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/25/AR2011012500517.html
B. From the Washington Post: How to get to Mars without a big new rocket. Some experts are looking at assembling an interplanetary spacecraft in Earth orbit from components launched on smaller rockets and propelled using electric propulsion.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/24/AR2011012406292.html
C. From Florida Today: Florida lawmakers hope for a NASA focus on tonight’s State of the Union address by President Obama.
http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011101250318
3. From Spacepolicyonline.com: NASA will host its annual Day of Remembrance on Thursday. The ceremonies will honor those astronauts who died in the Apollo 1 fire on Jan. 27, 1967 as well as the shuttle Challenger and Columbia tragedies on Jan. 28, 1986 and Feb. 1, 2003. In all 17 astronauts perished. They will be honored at the Arlington National Cemetery in ceremonies led by NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and Deputy Administrator Lori Garver.
http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/pages/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1369:nasa-honors-crews-of-apollo-204-challenger-and-columbia&catid=67:news&Itemid=27
4. From the Houston Chronicle: NASA astronaut Mark Kelly says he is one to two weeks away from a decision on whether to lead shuttle Endeavour’s mission to the International Space Station. Kelly has been at the side of his wife, Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, since her shooting at a Tucson political rally on Jan. 8. Giffords was moved from a Tucson medical center to Houston’s Texas Medical Center, where she is to soon begin rehabilitation. Endeavour’s flight is tentatively set for an April 19 lift off. NASA appointed a backup commander who could fill in for Kelly.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/7396077.html
A. From Collectspace.com: Last week, shuttle program managers manifested an encore mission for the orbiter Atlantis, which would become the final shuttle flight. A crew patch followed. Atlantis is tentatively set for a June 28 lift off, though the flight may come later in the year. The White House and Congress have yet to approve the funding.
http://www.collectspace.com/ubb/Forum18/HTML/000805.html
5. From Discovery.com: NASA’s famed Voyager 2 spacecraft sailed past distant Uranus 25 years ago Monday. Now, scientists in Europe and the U.S. are discussing a follow on mission, the Uranus Pathfinder. A future mission would orbit the distant planet for studies of its moons, ring system and atmosphere. Scientists believe the findings would provide more insight into how the solar system formed.
http://news.discovery.com/space/uranus-pathfinder-mission-to-the-mysterious-ice-giant.html
6. In two essays from The Space Review, experts ponder the next destination for human explorers.
A. In “EML-1, the Next Logical Destination,” Ken Murphy, a National Space Society chapter president, outlines the case for the first Earth/Moon Libration point as the next logical destination for humans. The L-1 point could be used to observe asteroids; observe the Earth; as a graveyard for satellites now in geosynchronous orbits, as a place to conduct lunar telerobotics, Murphy writes.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1764/1
B. In “Fly me to the stars,” regular TSR contributor Louis Friedman reviews the recent “100 year Starship Study Workshop,” sponsored by DARPA and NASA’s Ames Research Center. The gathering started a focused discussion on interstellar travel. While voyages to the stars remain a long way in the future, the meeting helped to address at least two key questions, why and where to go, writes Friedman.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1765/1
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