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Tuesday’s CSExtra offers a round up of space-related activities from around the world. Data from NASA’s Kepler space telescope mission suggests large numbers of Earth-like planets. Russia moves the launching of the next Soyuz mission to the International Space Station from March 30 to late on April 4. In Denver, Lockheed Martin unveils a new simulation and training facility for the Orion spacecraft. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden pays tribute to the late NASA astronaut Ronald McNair. Op-eds examine NASA’s options for a new heavy lift rocket and urge investments in Earth science. Hardworking shuttle astronauts fade into obscurity. Astronaut memorabilia generates scholarships.
1. From Space.com: A new study of the data gathered by NASA’s Kepler mission suggests that somewhere between 1 in 30 and 1 in 70 sun-like stars hosts an Earth-like planet. There could be two billion Earth-like planets in the Milky Way galaxy alone, according to one of the NASA scientists who participated in the analysis.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/11188-alien-earths-planets-sun-stars.html
A. From Science News: Researchers look anew at a fabled 1952 experiment in which University of Chicago researcher Stanley Miller directed lightning-like electrical discharges at lab flasks filled with atmospheric gases. The results produced evidence of amino acids that are the building blocks of proteins, offering a possible explanation for the appearance of life on Earth. A new look at the results validates Millers findings and provides evidence of even more amino acids from a 1958 experiment.
http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2011/03/long-neglected-experiment-gives-.html?ref=hp
B. From Physicsworld.com: Dying stars could support life, a University of Washington astrophysicist claims after a study of plentiful White Dwarf stars.
http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/45462
2. From Florida Today: A Soyuz spacecraft with NASA’s Ron Garan and cosmonauts Andrey Borisenko and Alexander Samokutyaev is set for an April 4 launching. The mission, once set to lift off on March 30, was delayed by a spacecraft communications problem.
http://space.flatoday.net/2011/03/new-launch-date-set-for-next-iss-crew.html
3. From the Denver Business Journal: Lockheed Martin Space Operation Co. unveils a new simulation and training center in the Denver suburbs. The 41,000 square foot facility includes a mock up of the Orion capsule and the docking port of the International Space Station. The Orion capsule, part of NASA’s all but cancelled Constellation Program, could serve as a life boat for the International Space Station as well as a capsule for future human deep space missions.
http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2011/03/21/lockheed-martin-unveils-colorado.html
4. From the Associated Press via The Daily Comet of Louisiana: In Lake City, S.C., NASA Administrator Charles Bolden pays tribute to Ron McNair, the physicist-astronaut who perished aboard the shuttle Challenger in 1986. McNair inspired him to become an astronaut, said Bolden, a Marine Corps aviator and fellow native of South Carolina.
http://www.dailycomet.com/article/20110321/APN/1103210605?Title=NASA-s-Bolden-I-stood-on-shoulders-of-Ron-McNair
5. Three op-eds from The Space Review, of March 21:
A. In, “Taking the Initiative: SLI and the Next Generation Part 2,” author Stewart Money, who writes on the history of space technology, examines future U. S. heavy lift rocket options. The cost and technologies remain a challenge, Money writes in an essay that examines past efforts.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1805/1
B. In “Earthquake and climate change: get the data,” regular contributor Louis Friedman writes in favor of a strong Earth science program, citing the Japanese Earthquake as an example of the value. Adequately funded research in this area could improve prediction capabilities, he writes. The planet’s population has soared to seven billion people, and their welfare depends heavily on technologies that are easily disrupted by natural phenomena. Friedman makes a similar case for gathering the data on climate change.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1802/1
C. In, “America’s Unknown Astronauts,” author Anthony Young recognizes some of the many astronauts who have flown on the space shuttle. He laments their relative obscurity, though they trained for and carried out a variety of difficult missions.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1801/1
6. From Florida Today: The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation hosts a fundraising auction of astronaut memorabilia this week. Bidders might dine with an Apollo astronaut or sky dive with a shuttle flier.
http://space.flatoday.net/2011/03/bid-on-astronaut-experiences-mementos.html
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