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Wednesday’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting on space related developments from around the world. China is expected to attempt the country’s first docking between two spacecraft on Wednesday. Annual NASA funding drops in the 2012 appropriations bill that passed the U. S. Senate on Tuesday as part of a multi-agency spending measure. A new climate report points to future extreme weather events. Experts examine evidence that China has interfered with satellites operated by other nations. NASA awards grants for the study of small tractor beams to gather planetary samples.
1. From Space.com: China’s un-piloted Shenzhou-8 spacecraft, launched late Monday, will attempt the first docking of two orbiting Chinese spacecraft on Wednesday, the publication reports. The docking target is the Tiangong-1 Chinese space lab, launched in late September. The docking is considered to be a precursor to Chinese ambitions to assemble an independent space station.
http://bit.ly/skQ2HJ
A. From the Coalition for Space Exploration: China’s Shenzhou-8 spacecraft will spend about 17 days in orbit. After a final un-docking from the Tiangong-1, Shenzhou will make a parachute descent. The return probe carries a German experiment package with a variety of biological and medical experiments.
http://bit.ly/s2nDhs
2. From Spacepolicyonline.com: The Senate Tuesday passed a “minibus” appropriations bill for several agencies, including NASA. Bottom line, the Senate approved 2012 spending for NASA of $17.9 billion. The House figure totals $16.8 billion and would include cancellation of the James Webb Space Telescope. The White House sought $18.7 billion for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.
http://bit.ly/ryLTkY
A. From Space News: In a report to Congress, NASA acknowledges that science mission planned for the post 2015 period will have to be delayed to accommodate cost increases for the James Webb Space Telescope, the designated successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. A report outlining the situation was provided to Congress in October.
http://bit.ly/sCBz3a
3. From the Associated Press via the Washington Post. The summary of a report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and obtained by the AP warns of warmer temperatures, drought and other weather challenges in response to global warming. “The extremes are a really noticeable aspect of climate change,” said Jerry Meehl, senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. “I think people realize that the extremes are where we are going to see a lot of the impacts of climate change.”
http://wapo.st/vMDCU9
4. From Discovery.com: Speculation grows among experts that China has attempted to interfere with the activities of satellites operated by other nations.
http://bit.ly/uRluu4
5. From the Huffington Post: NASA grants scientists $100,000 to study “tractor beams,” a science fiction staple. Three teams will study the use of light beams to gather samples of the atmosphere or small planetary particles for analysis. Star Trek and Star Wars featured the use of tractor beams to trap and pull large spacecraft.
http://huff.to/sVuMWj
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