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Wednesday’s CSExtra features the latest reporting and commentary on space-related activities from around the world. At the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA is preparing shuttle Endeavour for its final mission. Global cooperation is needed to confront the threat from orbital debris to satellite operations. The European Space Agency selects German astronaut Thomas Reiter to lead human space operations. The dismantling of the Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39B enters a new phase, while a new NASA launch facility opens at Wallops Island, VA. The challenging pace of Russian rocket launches, and birthday wishes to Capt. James T. Kirk. On Venus, no one casts a shadow.
1. From Spaceflightnow.com: The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and payloads that shuttle Endeavour is to carry to the International Space Station on her final mission reach Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. The mission, Endeavour’s 25th and final flight, is tentatively set for launching on April 19 at 7:48 p.m., EDT, with a crew of six.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts134/110322payloads/
A. From Florida Today: Once installed on the outside of the International Space Station, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer may help scientists explain the fundamental makeup of the universe, scientists believe.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110323/NEWS02/103230350/Experiment-package-hitching-ride-Endeavour-could-reveal-origin-universe?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Space%20News
2. From Space.com: The growing threat from orbiting man made debris to active satellites deserves an international response, according to Lt. Gen. Susan Helms, commander of the U. S. Strategic Command Joint Functional Component Command for Space.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/11191-space-debris-international-response.html
3. From spacepolicyonline.com: The European Space Agency’s new Directorate of Human Space Flights and Operations will be led by German astronaut Thomas Reiter.
http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/pages/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1494:esa-names-reiter-head-of-new-human-spaceflight-directorate&catid=91:news&Itemid=84
4. From Collectspace.com: At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, the dismantling of Launch Pad 39B, used by the shuttle and the Apollo programs, enters a new stage. The historic launch pad belongs to a new generation of rockets.
http://www.collectspace.com/ubb/Forum30/HTML/000776.html#fss
A. From the Associated Press via the Washington Post: NASA opens a Horizontal Integration Facility at the agency’s Wallops Island facility in Virginia.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/nasa-opens-horizontal-integration-facility-on-wallops-island/2011/03/23/ABXsqqGB_story.html
5. From SpaceNews/Parabolic Arc: Roscosmos, the Russian space agency’s rocket launch rate may be straining the organization’s capabilities, according to guest blogger Doug Messier, who follows commercial space trends.
http://www.spacenews.com/commentaries/110322-blog-roscosmos-strain.html
6. From Space.com: Actor William Shatner, also known as Star Trek’s Capt. Kirk, receives happy 80th birthday wishes from NASA via Twitter.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/11196-william-shatner-birthday-nasa-star-trek.html
7. From Discovery.com: No one speaks much about exploring searing Venus. But if future explorers do, they will not cast a shadow.
http://news.discovery.com/space/whats-on-venus.html
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