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Tuesday’s CSExtra features the latest headlines and commentary on space activities: In Houston, space shuttle managers call for further modifications of Discovery’s external fuel tank. Discovery’s final mission has been stalled since Nov. 5 by tiny cracks in fuel tank support beams. What are the top issues facing NASA’s human spaceflight program in 2011? Start with Congressional direction and funding. A U.S. mission to probe Dark Energy may face a long delay. New evidence suggests plate tectonics is playing a role in the evolution of Mars. Some in Los Angeles enjoy being in the dark. In Washington, no federal agency tweets better than NASA.
1. From Spaceflightnow.com: On Monday, shuttle managers order new modifications to prevent further cracks on the shuttle Discovery’s external fuel tank. The new “radius blocks” will be installed on 36 of the tank’s 108 support stringers. Managers will decide Thursday whether to extend the modification to all 108 stringers, a move that would likely push Discovery’s mission from the Feb. 3 through 10 window to the next window, Feb. 27 to March 6.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts133/110103mods/
2. Two from the Space Review:
www.thespacereview.com
A. In “Space Challenges for 2011,” SR editor Jeff Foust outlines the major issues facing the U.S. civil space program in the coming year. At the top of his list, is a Congressional resolution of the differences in the 2010 Authorization bill that would have NASA begin work on a new heavy lift rocket and continue development of a multi-purpose crew vehicle, both with a late 2016 operational horizon. Next is the 2011 budget, which is to increase NASA spending to $19.45 billion. At the same time, many in the Republic dominated House are sympathetic to the Pledge to America that would roll spending back to 2008 levels, a prospective $2 billion cut to NASA. Others on the agenda included the over budget James Webb Space Telescope and new milestones for the emerging commercial space sector.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1752/1
B. In “Peace,” SR contributor Louis Friedman explains why NASA’s human space flight missions are essential to national security. From Apollo to the International Space Station, NASA’s achievements are changing the ways conflicts are resolved. The tradition could become even more crucial as nations around the world confront the consequences of climate change, including increased attention to the Earth and diminishing resources, Friedman writes.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1751/1
3. From the New York Times: Disappointed astrophysicists say a high priority mission that would probe the mysteries of Dark Energy, a force causing the universe to expand at an accelerating rate, is facing a decade long postponement. The setback for the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope, is due to cost overruns for the James Webb Space Telescope. The James Webb, successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, is at least $1.5 billion over budget and several years behind schedule, NASA announced in November.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/04/science/space/04telescope.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=NASA&st=cse
4. From Space.com: The Martian surface shows signs of plate tectonics, a geologic process that could bolster prospects for past or present life on the Red Planet. The findings are based imagery gathered by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and were presented to a recent meeting the American Geophysical Union.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/scienceastronomy/mars-plate-tectonics-recent-past-110103.html
A. From the Coalition for Space Exploration: NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is marking its seven year anniversary of its landing on the Red Planet this month. Recent images of the crater Santa Maria are helping geologists understand how the surface of Mars was altered over time. Opportunity’s next destination is a crater called Endeavour, which is 14 miles in diameter.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/blog/opportunity-mars-rover-new-imagery-of-crater
5. From the Los Angeles Times: The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will consider restrictions on night time lighting. Some suburbanites still have a view of the Milky Way galaxy after the sun goes down, and they wish to keep it that way.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-light-pollution-20110104,0,7286068.story
A. From the Stockton Record of California: NASA Astronaut Jose Hernandez, the son of migrant workers, ponders his professional future. Hernandez realized his dream of flying in space as a shuttle crew member in 2009. A year later, he worked in Washington as a congressional liaison for the space agency. This year, he will decide whether to pursue a tour of duty aboard the International Space Station.
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110104/A_NEWS/101040316/-1/NEWSMAP
6. From the Washington Post: NASA makes the Washington Post’s list of top Twitter users in the “Favorite Government Agency” category.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/03/AR2011010304393.html
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