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Tuesday’s CSExtra finds reports from many news agencies on the U.S. Space policy unveiled by the Obama White House on Monday. Most of the first day reporting focused on the themes of increased international cooperation in the uses of space and regulation of space activities. Another popular theme was the new opportunities for the commercial space industry. There’s new commentary on NASA’s future from The Space Review, and a report on the fate of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 following a successful June 4 test flight.
1. The President’s space policy was formally released on Monday. Though the release was anticipated, there was little advanced warning from the White House of the roll out. Here’s a look at a range of first day reporting, commentary:
A. From the New York Times: President’s space policy alters Bush Administration’s U.S. first stance, and opens door to possibility of an arms control treaty to limit the development of space weapons.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/29/science/space/29orbit.html?ref=science
B. From the Wall Street Journal: Other nations appear willing to embrace President Obama’s cooperative space policy.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703964104575335373959874074.html?KEYWORDS=NASA
C. From the Christian Science Monitor: New Obama policy treats international cooperation in space as a cornerstone, not boiler plate. Somewhere, Gene Roddenberry — whose Star Trek franchise carried multicultural crews to cosmic destinations where no one had gone before — is smiling.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0628/Obama-space-policy-prizes-international-cooperation
D. From MSNBC: Despite its good intentions, a new space policy could have unintended consequences.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37986760/ns/technology_and_science-space/
E. From the Orlando Sentinel, also the Los Angeles Times: Obama administration policy seeks peace in space, but it does not necessarily seek international cooperation on NASA’s future deep space explorations.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/space/os-obama-space-report-20100628,0,25382.story
F. From Florida Today: New space policy strives to give NASA new relevance on national security, environmental issues. While Obama’s budget proposal for NASA continues to roil Congress, the national space policy is intended to show how the space agency fits within broader national goals for defense, national security and the environment. “It’s really a bold departure from previous policies,” said Barry Pavel, senior director for defense policy and strategy for the National Security Council.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20100629/NEWS02/6290323/Cooperation-at-heart-of-new-space-policy
G. From USA Today: Presidents policy seeks to fuel commercial space industry.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2010/06/obama-unveils-annual-national-space-policy/1
H. From Bloomberg News: Obama’s policy bolsters international cooperation, commerce. “No longer are we racing against an adversary,” Obama said in a statement.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-28/obama-focuses-revised-space-exploration-policy-on-partnerships-technology.html
I. From spacepolitics.com: The President’s new space policy emphasizes international cooperation, commercial expansion, eliminates the U. S. first tone of the Bush policy.
http://www.spacepolitics.com/2010/06/28/the-new-national-space-policy-is-out/
J. From Spacepolicyonline.com: Policy’s tone is markedly different than the 2006 Bush Administration policy. “We embrace the future,” says the new White House policy.
http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/pages/
K. From Reuters via the Washington Post: New space policy envisions expanded role for foreign governments and industry in monitoring the Earth’s climate, protecting satellites.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/28/AR2010062805429.html
L. From Space.com: International cooperation is key on all policy fronts. New policy reinforces President Obama’s call to reach an asteroid with human explorers by 2025.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/news/white-house-unveils-national-space-policy-100628.html
2. Three essays from The Space Review address events and policy changes affecting NASA’s future:
A. In “Space Leaders Support Commercial Crew to ISS and Accelerated Human Exploration Beyond,” Alan Stern, planetary scientist and commercial space flight advocate, offers background on the open letter that went to Congress last week from him and others advocating both positions as core features of the nation’s space agenda. Commercial transportation to the International Space Station for the nation’s astronauts is the cost-saver that will permit the government to hasten a new era of exploration beyond Low Earth Orbit, Stern writes.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1652/1
B. In “Picking up the torch versus dropping the ball,” Dwayne Day, a space policy analyst, takes exception to an essay last week in which Sam Dinkins makes a case for increased private investment in commercial space transportation. Day addresses several of Dinkins’ assumptions. Among them, Day notes that Elon Musk’s recent success with the Falcon 9 was significantly under written with funding from NASA. There is no guarantee a wealthier society will decide to invest in space, Day writes.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1655/1
C. In “An intrepid request for a shuttle in New York,” editor Jeff Foust looks at the competition under way for one of NASA’s retired shuttle orbiters. Discovery will go to the Air and Space Museum for display near Washington. NASA’s Kennedy and Johnson space centers are making strong cases for Atlantis and Endeavour at nearby visitor/space educational facilities. New York City’s Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum may bring larger crowds than other competing locales, Foust writes. But will orbiter really prove that inspirational to youthful Big Apple audiences.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1653/1
3. From Spaceflightnow.com: The inaugural Falcon 9 rocket launched by SpaceX on June 4 re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere late Saturday, likely burning up over Iraq and Syria.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/001/100628entry/
4. From Spaceflightnow.com: Three International Space Station astronauts re-locate their Soyuz capsule on Monday. The short flight was delayed by problems with a mechanism that secures one of the station’s solar panels.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/001/100628entry/
5. From the Huntsville Times of Alabama: U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt leads effort among Republican congressmen from the state to introduce legislation that would force NASA to spend on the Constellation program through the end of the fiscal year. Legislation is in response to lay-offs, as NASA slows spending to cover contract termination expenses.
http://blog.al.com/space-news/2010/06/lawmakers_will_try_to_force_na.html
6. From Time Magazine: As a consequence of global warming, the Earth’s upper atmosphere is contracting. That means less resistance for the orbiting space junk waiting to make a fiery plunge back into the Earth’s atmosphere. Inevitably, more junk in space produces more junk in space, a hazard to future satellites, Time reports.
http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2010/06/28/climate-change-and-space-junk/
7. From Discovery.com: Future human expeditions to the moon are inevitable, according to William Pomerantz, the executive director of the Google X-Prize Foundation. His estimate, sometime in the 2020s.
http://news.discovery.com/space/are-we-going-back-to-the-moon.html
8. From the Washington Post: A tribute to the tenacity of Japan’s space engineers and the Hayabusa spacecraft, which landed in Australia earlier this month following an obstacle filled, seven-year mission to gather soil samples from an asteroid.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/28/AR2010062803841.html
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