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Tuesday’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the nation. Endeavour’s six astronauts settle into their first full day in orbit with a customary post-launch inspection of the shuttle’s heat shielding. Endeavour’s docking with the International Space Station is set for Wednesday at 6:15 a.m., EDT. Plus, more on the scene at Endeavour’s launch and the mission’s primary payload, the $2 billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, the promise of the SpaceX Super Heavy rocket and Florida’s future as a mecca for commercial space.
1. From Spaceflightnow.com: Shuttle Endeavour’s six astronauts settle into Earth orbit, following a successful lift off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Monday at 8:56 a.m., EDT. Tuesday, their first full day in orbit, will be spent surveying the spacecraft’s heat shielding for launch day damage with a camera-tipped inspection boom locked in the grasp of Endeavour’s robot arm. The shuttle is on course to dock with the International Space Station on Wednesday at 6:15 a.m. EDT, to deliver the $2 billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and a rack filled with spare parts for the orbiting science laboratory. The 16-day mission is Endeavour’s last.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts134/110516launch/index.html
A. From Florida Today: Endeavour’s lift off evokes pride and provides an emotional lift for those at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and in Central Florida, where the retiring orbiter fleet is based. All receive a pre-lift off thanks from Endeavour commander Mark Kelly. “It’s in the DNA of our great country to reach for the stars and explore,” Kelly remarks.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110517/NEWS02/105170325/Shuttle-Endeavour-s-last-liftoff-pumps-up-hearts-pride?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Home
B. From the Washington Post: “Good stuff,” commented Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords as she watched Endeavour launch with her husband, Mark Kelly, at the helm. Giffords traveled from the Texas Medical Center in Houston to the Kennedy Space Center to watch the lift off. The congresswoman is recovering from a gunshot wound received during a shooting rampage at a Tucson political rally. Giffords, in a wheel chair, watched with the families of other crew members from the Launch Control Center.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/space-shuttle-endeavour-on-schedule-for-monday-launch/2011/05/16/AFa2xl4G_story.html
C. From the Arizona Republic: Endeavour commander Mark Kelly, in an email, reflects on the first day of his last mission to space. The world has changed in significant ways since his previous spaceflight — devastation in Japan, unrest in the Middle East, economic setback as well as the injury to his own wife, Kelly notes
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/05/16/20110516gabrielle-giffords-mark-kelly-email-ON0516.html
D. From Space.com: A student project captures video and still imagery of Endeavour’s launch from a helium filled balloon released near Gainesville, Florida. The project sponsors include the Coalition for Space Exploration, Challenger Centers for Space Science Education and Quest for the Stars, a non profit group. The balloon payload carried the name Senatobia-1 for Senatobia, Miss., one of the communities that suggested the name “Endeavour” for the orbiter that replaced the shuttle Challenger.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/11683-shuttle-endeavour-launch-balloon-photos.html
E. From the Smithsonian.com: A space exploration supporter feels little remorse over the shuttle’s retirement. The program cost too much and was unable to meet initial expectations of almost routine access to space, writes a Smithsonian blogger.
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/2011/05/why-im-not-sorry-to-see-the-space-shuttle-end/
F. From the Los Angeles Times: Endeavour’s cargo includes three experimental postage stamp size satellites called Sprite that will be placed outside the International Space Station. They will be returned to Earth in a few years. The “stamp sats” are the prototype for waves of small satellites that could travel through space like dust on the solar wind to collect real time information about the space environment, says Mason Peck, the Cornell University professor leading the project.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/05/space-shuttle-endeavour-launch-minisatellites-.html
2. Two commentaries from Monday’s The Space Review follow the long prelude to the launching of Endeavour’s primary payload, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, and examine the potential windfall for space science if SpaceX can deliver on the Super Heavy rocket it is developing.
A. In The Space Station’s Billion Dollar Physics Experiment, SRE editor Jeff Foust traces the history of the AMS, a long running particle physics experiment. Work on the project began 16 years ago. However, the big detector was removed from the shuttle’s manifest in the aftermath of the 2003 Columbia accident. Scientists disagree on the potential of the AMS to solve some mysteries about the cosmic fabric and the early era of the universe.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1844/1
B. In “A new rocket for science,” Scientist Alan Stern takes a look at the promise of the Space X Super Heavy, an expendable rocket that promises to launch big spacecraft at a relatively small price. While intended primarily for Defense payloads, communications satellites and human missions, the Super Heavy could prove a boon to scientific missions. First, though, NASA must place the new rocket on its approved list. SpaceX would like to field the new rocket in 2013.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1846/1
3. From The Orlando Sentinel: In an op-ed, Joshua Colwell, a University of Central Florida physics professor, urges Florida’s leadership to do all they can to encourage the development of commercial space.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/os-ed-space-shuttle-joshua-colwell-0520110516,0,2650139.story
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