NASA will expand its probe into the water leak that prompted an abrupt end to a July 16 spacewalk outside the International Space Station with the creation of a five-member mishap investigation board.
FIZZY COMET: Observations using NASA’s Spitzer space telescope have revealed what most likely are strong carbon dioxide emissions from Comet ISON ahead of its anticipated pass through the inner solar system later this year, the agency announced. Images captured last month with Spitzer’s Infrared Array Camera indicate carbon dioxide is “fizzing” away from what has now been dubbed the “soda-pop comet,” along with dust, forming a tail 186,400 mi. long. Scientists estimate the comet is emitting about 2.2 million lb. [1 million kg] of gas and about 120 million lb.
India’s Insat-3D weather satellite is getting ready for liftoff on July 25 from Europe’s spaceport near Kourou in French Guiana. “The satellite has been installed on [an] Ariane 5 launcher for Arianespace’s heavy-lift mission and the final payload integration is under way,” a scientist at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) says. The Indian spacecraft is integrated in the lower payload position for Ariane 5’s dual-launch mission, along with Europe’s Alphasat telecommunications platform.
A private company plans to mount the first commercial mission to the Moon as a step toward a private lunar sample return flight around 2020. Moon Express, Inc., a strong contender in the $30 million Google Lunar X Prize competition, says it will mount a follow-on mission to the Moon’s South Pole in partnership with the International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA), one of the piggyback customers for its X-Prize entry.
After receiving initial FAA certification in March of a system combining satellite-based communications with helicopter health and usage monitoring systems (HUMS), Honeywell aims to evolve the capability for inflight broadband connectivity on passenger airliners.
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V lifted off July 19, carrying the second of the U.S. Navy’s new narrowband communications satellites. Liftoff occurred at 9:00 a.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite, made by Lockheed Martin, was lofted from an Atlas V 551, meaning it used a 5-meter fairing and five strap-on solid-rocket boosters. A 44-min. launch window opened at 8:48 a.m. EDT, but the launch was put on hold temporarily due to high upper-level winds.
More space programs are set to feel sequestration's effects, particularly on the civilian side as lawmakers responsible for NASA are increasingly—and bitterly—at odds. Last week, Senate appropriators, led by Democrats, recommended $18 billion for the agency for 2014. But despite his stated approval of the legislation, senior Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) voted against the measure in committee because it adheres to Senate Democrats' overall federal budget allocations.
The nine USAF fighter squadrons grounded since April by the 2011 Budget Control Act's automatic sequestration cuts are flying again, but whether they will remain so after September—and whether there will be anyone to fly or maintain them starting
Carbon in its many forms is transforming manufacturing, from electronics to structures. Aerospace uses carbon in fiber form, but new nano-structured materials are emerging that promise improved properties and expanded applications.
Orbital Sciences Corp. reported a drop in revenue for the second quarter of this year — $333.1 million as compared to $371.3 million in the second quarter of 2012.
ELECTROSPRAY PROPULSION: Three organizations may get a chance to fly their electrospray microthrusters on a future orbiting testbed, following their selection for “game-changing” development grants from NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. Picked to negotiate for grants are projects proposed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Busek Company, Inc., of Natick, Mass., and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
SPACE SELFIES: NASA’s Messenger Mercury probe and Cassini Saturn explorer are maneuvering into place to image the Earth on July 19 and 20. Cassini will take its pictures between 2:27 p.m. and 2:42 p.m. PDT July 19, when the probe will be nearly 900 million mi. (1.5 billion km) from Earth. The portrait is part of a mosaic of images of the Saturn system backlit by the Sun, in which the viewing geometry allows for highly detailed study of Saturn’s famous ring system.
Partisan gamesmanship continued in the House Science Committee during a July 18 markup, as Democrats mounted an account-by-account attack on the Republican majority’s NASA reauthorization bill. The committee approved the bill, authorizing the space agency for two years, starting at $16.9 billion in fiscal 2014.
As part of an ongoing effort to spread the benefits of government investment in space exploration and science, NASA is looking for outside partners to collaborate on “mutually beneficial” space projects. A synopsis published July 17 offers NASA spaceflight expertise to companies and nonprofit organizations willing to work with the agency in unfunded partnerships that can use that expertise to further their goals in space.
Democratic-led appropriators in the Senate are on a collision course with counterparts in the Republican-controlled House over spending for NASA, with the Senate Appropriations Committee this week set to approve $18 billion for next fiscal year for the space and aeronautics agency.
HOUSTON — NASA is looking into a possible cooling system leak after water seeped into the helmet of spacewalking European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano on July 16, prompting an early end to a two-man excursion that was to advance preparations for the arrival of Russia’s Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) later this year. Neither Parmitano nor lead U.S. spacewalker Chris Cassidy faced imminent danger, and all of the missed tasks can be rescheduled without urgency, according to NASA’s Mission Control.
