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Tuesday’s CSExtra includes the latest reporting and commentary on global space activities. NASA approves a Nov. 1 launching for the shuttle Discovery’s final mission, an 11-day journey to the International Space Station. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden issues a statement on his just concluded low key visit to China for introductory discussions on future cooperation in human spaceflight. NASA prepares to foster another round of commercial space transportation development with $200 million in contract awards. A former Apollo astronaut expresses his concerns about the collision hazard posed by near Earth asteroids.
1. From Spaceflightnow.com: During a Flight Readiness Review on Monday, top NASA managers clear the shuttle Discovery for a Nov. 1 lift off on the orbiter’s final mission. Over 11 days, six astronauts will equip the International Space Station with a new storage module and supplies to keep the orbiting lab active following the shuttle’s 2011 retirement.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts133/101025frr/index.html
A. From the Associated Press via the Washington Post (New York Times, Los Angeles Times and others): Discovery receives the green light from top NASA officials for a Nov. 1 lift off. Meanwhile, Mission Control monitors an unidentified piece of space junk that prompted an avoidance maneuver by the International Space Station early Tuesday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/25/AR2010102502018.html
2. From Space News: NASA Administrator Charles Bolden offers a statement on Monday that characterizes his October trip to China for low key discussions on future human space flight cooperation. Bolden was able to tour China’s human launch complex, an opportunity that was not offered to his predecessor, Mike Griffin. Griffin made a similar visit in 2006. China hints at future transparency in its space activities.
http://www.spacenews.com/civil/101025-bolden-china-visit-foundation-further-dialogue.html
A. From MSNBC: China will take aim at Mars, hitching a ride on a Mars bound Russian probe as soon as 2013. The Russian mission will attempt to land on Phobos to grab a sample of the Martian moon for return to Earth. The Chinese orbiter “Firefly” will study Mars much the way that China’s Chang’e 2 mission is studying the moon. The mission, outlined in Xinhua news agency report, signals China’s serious interest in spaceflight, MSNBC reports.
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/10/25/5349170-china-lays-out-its-plan-for-mars
3. From Space News: NASA intends to award $200 million to multiple commercial space transportation companies in 2011 to refine and advance technologies. The contract selections will be announced in March – depending on how NASA’s 2011 budget fares with Congress. NASA will accept industry proposals until Dec. 13. The U.S. plans to replace the retiring shuttle with commercial space transportation services.
http://www.spacenews.com/civil/101025-bolden-china-visit-foundation-further-dialogue.html
A. From Spaceflightnow.com: The new $200 million in commercial development funding will augment $50 million for the initiative awarded to five companies in February 2009.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1010/25ccdev/
B. From Space.com and Space News: SpaceX, a leading contender in the initiative to offer commercial orbital transportation services, slips the launching of the Falcon 9 with a Dragon capsule from Nov. 8 to Nov. 18. The rocket and capsule, with NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services project funding, are under development to transport cargo and astronauts to the International Space Station.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/missionlaunches/spacex-dragon-space-capsule-launch-delay-101025.html
4. From the New York Times: In an op-ed, Russell Schweickart, the former Apollo astronaut, explains a recent report from the NASA Advisory Council’s Task Force on Planetary Defense he chaired. The report discusses a new initiative to catalogue and monitor asteroids and comets that swing close to the Earth. While the White House recently tasked NASA with the responsibility of sounding warnings of potential collision threats, it has not yet addressed another of Schweickart’s concerns. That is the need for a strategy to deflect those asteroids that pose the biggest threat. Schweickart, and Tom Jones, another former NASA astronaut who worked with him on the task force, believe the threat could be addressed with $300 million in NASA funding over the next decade, then more to maintain the vigil.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/26/opinion/26schweickart.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=NASA&st=cse
5. From the Space Review: In “A spaceport takes shape,” editor Jeff Foust chronicles the unusual develop of New Mexico’s Spaceport America. Located in near isolation in the southern part of New Mexico, Spaceport America, with its 10,000 foot long runway, is positioned to become the launch and landing site for commercial suborbital missions, and possibly a landing site for orbital missions. New Mexico believes it will also draw more than a half million visitors annually and perhaps hundreds of new high tech jobs.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1716/1
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