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Wednesday’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting on space related activities from around the globe. Europe seeks a significant role in NASA’s future exploration program. The Google Lunar X-prize and its $30 million offering strike a chord. Russia prepares to begin Soyuz operations in French Guiana. China launches a new navigation satellite. Experts re-examine an aging equation that suggests life flourishes in the universe. Saturn’s water has a nearby source. NASA’s long time safety chief retires. The International Space Station’s exterior is a popular spot for testing the materials that will comprise future spacecraft.
1. From Spaceflightnow.com: The European Space Agency would like a major role in NASA’s future exploration plans. One proposal would pair Europe’s Automated Transfer Vehicle, an un-piloted capsule for launching cargo to the International Space Station, with NASA’s Orion/Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle. The combination would enable astronauts to embark on missions beyond low Earth orbit.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1107/26mpcveurope/index.html
A. From Spacepolicyonline.com: A quick look at the Google Lunar X-prize competition. The competition’s $30 million prize for robotic innovation is luring the commercial sector as well as non-profit organizations back to the moon.
http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/pages/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1740:google-moon-20-x-prizes-draw-diverse-teams&catid=83:news&Itemid=76
2. From the PBS News Hour: French Guiana prepares to host a launch complex for Russia’s venerable Soyuz rocket.
The first Soyuz missions from the Western Hemisphere are to carry Russian guidance and navigation satellites.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2011/07/french-guiana-to-be-newest-soyuz-spaceport.html
3. From Xinhua new service of China: China launches a new navigation satellite early Wednesday aboard a Long March 3A rocket. China is establishing a network of spacecraft to gain independence from use of the U. S. Global Positioning Satellite system.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/sci/2011-07/27/c_131011502.htm
4. From Space.com: The question is as old as humanity. Are we Earthlings alone in the universe? Perhaps we are, according to a new assessment of the prospects for life on distant planets — even where the conditions seem to be Earth like.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/12421-alien-life-rare-universe-extraterrestrials-seti.html
A. From Discovery.com: Can NASA’s soon-to-be-launched Mars Science Laboratory find life on the Red Planet.? What are the limitations of the mission assigned to the rover Curiosity at the recently selected Gale crater landing site? MSL’s assignment is to search for environmental conditions that would permit and sustain microbial life. Launch is set for November-December.
http://news.discovery.com/space/mars-rover-curiosity-fossils-life-organics-110726.html
5. From Universe Today: The source for mysterious concentrations of water found in the atmosphere of Saturn is volcanic activity on the moon Enceladus, according to scientists using findings from the European Space Agency’s Herchel space observatory.
http://www.universetoday.com/87774/enceladus-rains-water-on-saturn/
6. From Space.com: Longtime NASA safety chief Bryan O’Connor announces his retirement, effective Aug. 31. The former NASA astronaut says he waited until after the agency’s final shuttle mission to announce his departure. http://www.exploredeepspace.com/12439-nasa-safety-chief-oconnor-retires.htmll
7. From the Huntsville Times: Researchers are using the outside of the International Space Station to study samples of materials that could be used to fabricate future spacecraft.
http://blog.al.com/space-news/2011/07/nasa_uses_high-tech_briefcase.html
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