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Tuesday’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from around the world.Chinalaunches the un-piloted Shenzhou-8 spacecraft which will attempt the country’s first rendezvous and docking with a target space lab launched in late September. SpaceFloridaseals a deal with Boeing to assemble and refurbish the company’s proposed commercial space capsule, the CST-100, in a former NASA space shuttle hangar. OneU. S.space entrepreneur is convincedChinaintends to claim the moon and its resources. In spite of constrained NASA science funding, scientists hope to make a case for an extension of NASA’s Kepler planet hunting mission.
1. From Space.com: China launches the Shenzhou-8 spacecraft late Monday. The unmanned transport will attemptChina’s first rendezvous and docking this month, using the orbiting Tiangong-1 space lab as a target. A pair of piloted Chinese missions to the lab are scheduled to follow as the Asian power prepares to assemble an independent space station.
A. From Ria Novosti of Russia: China’s mission is historic as Beijing strives to become a major space power.
B. From Xinhua.net of China: Large crowds of Chinese gather for hours in the desert to witness the Shenzhou-8 launching.
C. From Xinhua.net ofChina:Chinaconsiders the launching of two female astronauts to the Tiangong-1 space lab in 2012. “Space exploration activities would be incomplete without the participation of female astronauts,” said one of the nation’s space officials.
2. From the Orlando Sentinel: Space Florida, the state aerospace development agency, leases a former NASA shuttle orbiter processing facility at the Kennedy Space Center to the Boeing Co. Boeing plans to use the hangar to assemble and refurbish its commercial CST-100 candidate in NASA’s commercial crew development initiative. The capsule will hold seven astronauts or cargo for missions to the International Space Station. Boeing aims for operations as soon as late 2015. The deal could bring 550 new jobs toCentral Florida.
A. From Florida Today: A package of Florida state incentives valued at $50 million helped to foster the agreement that is transitioning NASA away from the space shuttle to commercial space transportation services. “If anyone had any doubt that Kennedy Space Center would remain open for business, this new agreement should put that notion to rest,” said Lori Garver, NASA’s deputy administrator.
B. From the Los Angeles Times: Boeing’s strategy will shift engineering and manufacturing activities now in Huntington Beach, Calif., Houston, Tex. and Huntsville, Ala., to Cape Canaveral, Fla.
C. From the Associated Press via the Houston Chronicle and others: Under the arrangement, Boeing will not pay rent but will cover the cost of operations and utilities for use of the NASA facilities. Boeing is responsible for the eventual demolition of the work area as well.
D. From the Orlando Sentinel: In an editorial, the newspaper notes the Boeing/Space Florida deal signals that a shift to commercial space transportation services at NASA is underway. “A new industry is lifting off,” writes the Sentinel. “Florida needs to make sure it’s on board.”
3. From The Space Review: In “Fear of a Chinese Moon,” TSR editor Jeff Foust examines recent warnings from U. S. space entrepreneur Robert Bigelow that China intends to claim the moon during the 2020s by duplicating and exceeding U. S. human space accomplishments. Other U. S.basedChinawatchers are skeptical, noting thatChina’s announced plans for human endeavors are focused on a future space station. “I’d love to be proven absolutely wrong,” says Bigelow, who hopes his words trigger a debate over China’s intentions.
4. From Space.com: Though NASA faces funding constraints, space scientists hope to win an extension for the Kepler space telescope, which was launched in March 2009 to search for evidence of Earth-like planets around other stars. So far, Kepler has identified 1,235 candidates. The $600 million mission is set to end in November 2012 and would cost $20 million annually to extend.
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