To subscribe to CSExtra via RSS feed click here.
If you would prefer to receive CSExtra in e-mail format, e-mail us at Info@space.com with the word SUBSCRIBE in the subject line.
Coming soon! The Coalition for Space Exploration will launch a new Think Outside the Circle PSA.
Click here for a promo poster, free downloads and a chance to win prizes.
Tuesday’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space-related activities from around the world. NASA assigns shuttle Endeavour a new no-earlier-than launch date, May 10. Endeavour’s flight was scrubbed last Friday by a problem with hydraulic system heaters. In commentaries, two space policy analysts find symbolism in the difficulties facing NASA’s next to last shuttle flight. Two perspectives on SpaceX, the emerging commercial space transportation company, one from Texas, the other from Cape Canaveral. A lunar mystery solved. A heavy weight exo-planet. The diary of an asteroid collision. A look at space-policy related events scheduled for the remainder of the week.
1. From Spaceflightnow.com: Endeavour’s second attempt to begin her final mission will come no earlier than May 10, shuttle and space station mission managers say late Monday. Problems with a hydraulic system heater prompted a launch scrub last Friday. The difficulties have been traced to an internal electronics box which will be replaced and re-tested before Endeavour is ready to lift off. Mission managers intend to re-convene on Friday to make another launch date assessment.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts134/110502alca/index.html
2. Two From the Space Review:
A. In “A Muddled Future,” Space Review editor Jeff Foust finds some irony in the build up to the launching of shuttle Endeavour’s final mission — scheduled for last Friday, but scrubbed until May 10 or later by a hydraulic heater system failure. Large crowds gathered in Central Florida. President Obama brought his family to the Kennedy Space Center. Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, the wife of Endeavour commander Mark Kelly, left a Houston rehabilitation center, where she is recovering from a Jan. 8 gunshot wound, to witness the lift off. The scrub was a let down that seemed to symbolize an aging shuttle limping in to the sunset, Foust writes
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1835/1
B. “In Pomp and Circumstances,” regular Space Review contributor Dwayne Day looks for symbolism in Endeavour’s scheduled launch and its juxtaposition with the Britain’s royal wedding. The shuttle, even with a disappointing scrub, carries more significance, Day concludes.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1834/1
3. From the Houston Chronicle: McGregor, Texas opens its arms to SpaceX, the commercial space transportation company, which operates a rocket test facility the small town close to Waco in North Central Texas. Workers say they are inspired by their work. The Chronicle examines the pioneering rocket company’s Texas roots.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/7545406.html
A. From Universe Today: Behind the scene with SpaceX in Cape Canaveral, Fla., and Hangar 40. The Hawthorne, Calif., based company prepares the next Falcon 9 for launching.
http://www.universetoday.com/85307/behind-the-scenes-at-spacexs-space-launch-complex-40/
4. From Space.com: Lunar scientists have solved a mystery that dates back to NASA’s Apollo 12 lunar mission from November 1969. Commander Pete Conrad and lunar module pilot Alan Bean landed close to NASA’s Surveyor 3, an unmanned lunar precursor mission. They retrieve a camera from the Surveyor. Back on Earth, scientists find that the camera is contaminated with bacteria, suggesting the microbes survived the vacuum, radiation and other harsh factors of space. As it turns out, that was not the case at all. http://www.exploredeepspace.com/11536-moon-microbe-mystery-solved-apollo-12.html
5. From Space.com: The exo-planet “55 Cancri e” is 60 percent lead, according to scientists. The odd world is 40 light years from the Earth. It was discovered in 2004 and is one of five planets circling the star 55 Cancri A.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/11544-densest-alien-planet-55cancrie.html
6. From Astronomynow.com: The diary of an asteroid collision. Asteroid Scheila takes on an almost comet-like appearance after it is smacked by a smaller body. The Hubble and Swift space telescopes provide astronomers with a unique vantage point.
http://www.astronomynow.com/news/n1105/02asteroid/
7. From Spacepolicyonline.com: A look at space policy events scheduled for this week.
http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/pages/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1544:events-of-interest-week-of-may-2-6-2011&catid=67:news&Itemid=27
Brought to you by the Coalition for Space Exploration, CSExtra is a daily compilation of space industry news selected from hundreds of online media resources. The Coalition is not the author or reporter of any of the stories appearing in CSExtra and does not control and is not responsible for the content of any of these stories. The content available through CSExtra contains links to other websites and domains which are wholly independent of the Coalition, and the Coalition makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or authenticity of the information contained in any such site or domain and does not pre-screen or approve any content. The Coalition does not endorse or receive any type of compensation from the included media outlets and is not responsible or liable in any way for any content of CSExtra or for any loss, damage or injury incurred as a result of any content appearing in CSExtra. For information on the Coalition, visit www.space.com or contact us via e-mail at Info@space.com.