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Tuesday’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. Russia prepares to launch a sample return mission to the Martian moon Phobos late Tuesday. Astronomers gather close-up radar images of the large asteroid 2005 YU55 as it nears a close pass of the Earth Tuesday evening. Space station managers set a Sunday launching of the next Russian Soyuz crew mission. A White House statement seeks to dispel conspiracy theories about UFOs. NASA plans a rocket test of a key Space Launch System component. NASA may have a 2012 budget by Thanksgiving. NASA’s commercial crew initiative receives a favorable review. Two essays examine what’s at stake for Russia with the Phobos mission and urge Congress to back NASA’s efforts to foster commercial crew transportation services.
1. From Wired.com: Russia prepares to revive its long dormant Mars planetary science program with the launching of a sample return mission to the Martian moon Phobos. The spacecraft is set for lift off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Tuesday night.
http://bit.ly/sg1W24
A. From RIA Novosti of Russia: Russia’s Phobos Grunt mission to retrieve soil samples from the Russian moon Phobos is set to lift off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Tuesday at 3:16 p.m., EST. The difficult mission will pave the way for the future exploration of Mars, say Russian scientists. The $163 million mission is the first attempt by Russia to launch a planetary probe to the Red Planet since the Mars 96 orbiter plummeted back to Earth after lifting off 15 years ago.
2. From Space.com: The large asteroid 2005 YU55 will swoop close to the Earth late Tuesday. Experts say there is no doubt it will miss. But how would experts deal with an imminent impact. The B612 Foundation has given the prospect some thought and offers some strategies.
http://bit.ly/uEEhWY
A. From the Wall Street Journal: An asteroid like 2005 YU55 could become a future destination for astronauts. The rock may host water, metals and other potential resources for future explorers as well as clues to how life spreads from one planet to another.
http://on.wsj.com/va8Ohk
3. From Florida Today: During a flight readiness review on Monday, the International Space Station partners approved the Nov. 13 launching of the next space station crew. The Soyuz spacecraft carrying American Dan Burbank and Russians Anatoly Ivinishin and Anton Shkaplerov will be prepared for liftoff on Sunday at 11:14 p.m., EST. The mission, once set for Sept. 21, was delayed by the late August loss of a Progress supply capsule. The Progress crash was blamed on a clogged Soyuz fuel line.
4. From the Los Angeles Times: In a statement issued by the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the White House says there is no UFO cover up by the U. S. government. The statement was in response to a pair of petitions on the White House “We the People” website on the long running conspiracy issue. The search goes on, the administration says.
5. From the Huntsville Times: NASA engineers plan a full duration, 500 second burn of the J2X upper stage engine at the Stennis Space Center on Wednesday. Work on the J2X, an upgraded version of the Saturn V rocket stage, began under NASA’s now cancelled Constellation program. The propulsion stage is now part of NASA’s Space Launch System and will push the Orion/Multi-purpose Crew Vehicle into orbit. The test will be aired on NASA/TV.
http://bit.ly/uAMpZf
6. From the Huntsville Times: NASA’s 2012 budget appears due for passage by Nov. 18, the newspaper reports. However, spending is likely to fall below the 2011 level, $18.4 billion. The Senate has agreed to $17.9 billion, including funds to pursue additional work on the James Webb Space Telescope. The House figure, $16.8 billion, eliminates the James Webb. Deliberations on a compromise are under way.
http://bit.ly/uJsYms
7. From Forbes.com: The magazine sees a significant market potential for the commercial space transportation system that Boeing plans to assemble at the Kennedy Space Center.
http://onforb.es/umB6A1
8. Two essays from Monday’s The Space Review examine Russia’s Phobos mission and urge Congress to fund NASA’s commercial crew initiative:
A. In “Phobos sample return launches tomorrow,” frequent TSR contributor Louis Friedman explains Russia/s bold mission to retrieve samples of the Martian moon Phobos. Though short on technology and expertise, Russia will role the dice on a mission that could have a big scientific payoff. The probe would reach Mars in October 2012, releasing China’s first Mars satellite. After grabbing a small amount of soil from Phobos, the Russian probe would return to Earth, arriving in August 2014. Russia’s record at Mars is distinguished by failure.
http://bit.ly/tIH1yC
B. In “Congress and NASA: expedite commercial crew,” Alan Stern and Frank DiBello urge Congress and NASA to get behind the White House initiative to develop U. S. commercial crew transportation services. It’s the only affordable strategy to regain U. S. access to the International Space Station in the shortest possible time, while creating new jobs, write Stern, who heads the Florida Space Institute, and Frank DiBello, who leads Space Florida.
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