The Spaceflight Vault – A History of NASA’s Manned Missions by Mark Mayfield; Whitman Publishing, LLC; Atlanta, Georgia; $49.95 (hard cover/box); 2010.

Here’s a book that keeps on giving and giving. This volume is designed as a scrapbook, but also provides a spectacular look at the decades of progress in evolving the ability to place humans into space. From Chinese bamboo rockets in 1232 to 2010 and onward – this book is a true romp into the past and a glimpse into the future.

Talk about passion! Mark Mayfield, the author and the reader’s historical guide, showcases his love and zeal for space. He has assembled a wealth of information, purging various archives to unearth some real space gems. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at what he has uncovered.

Even the most seasoned space aficionado will find images, pullout drawings and check list reproductions, as well as fascinating factoids in this volume, from the pages of Robert Goddard’s diary and the patented design of the Mercury single-seater capsule…to a movie poster-like handout for the Ares 1-X first flight.

A salute to Whitman Publishing is also on the table given the superb production job that gives the reader such an experience, page after page.

The Spaceflight Vault is just that – a catacomb of rich history that spotlights the onward march of humankind into space.

As Mayfield explains: “Though we haven’t yet matched the spirit of the 1960s and President Kennedy’s quest for the moon, there are new feats and discoveries that promise to elevate the space program to new heights.”

Owning this volume is a must. You’ll better understand both how far humankind has come and just how reachable the tomorrow’s to come really are.

For more information, go to:

http://www.whitmanbooks.com/Default.aspx?Page=81&ProductID=0794830463

By Leonard David

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Monday’s CSExtra offers a collection of the latest reporting and commentary on space exploration. Interest builds in the human exploration of asteroids, as experts begin the difficult search for prospective destinations. A commercial space expert offers supportive context for the White House commercial space transportation initiative. A look back at last week’s top space developments. NASA plans a new mission to the sun.

1. From Spaceflightnow.com: Experts are responding to President Obama’s goal of reaching a near Earth asteroid with humans by 2025. Lockheed Martin, has proposed Plymouth Rocket, missions using a pair of Orion crewed spacecraft to reach asteroid destinations well before the president’s goal. The Applied Science Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University is suggesting robotic precursor missions as well, Next Gen Near could launch as soon as 2014. The subject of asteroid exploration was a topic at the AIAA Space 2010 Conference in Anaheim, Calif.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1009/06asteroid/

A. The Houston Chronicle: At NASA, the exploration directorate’s executives and scientists begin to wrestle with the human exploration of an asteroid, as proposed by President Obama earlier this year. However, more candidates for exploration are needed. The first destinations could be quite small, no larger than a sky scraper.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/7188211.html

2. From Spacepolitics.com: The website illustrates a case for the Obama Administration’s strategy to develop a commercial space transportation system, with an investment of up to $6 billion for development over the next six years. The Pentagon failed to make such a substantial investment in the development of the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles in the 1990s, wrongly assuming a growing commercial market for the Atlas 5 and the Delta 4, warned one expert at the AIAA Space 2010 Conference.
http://www.spacepolitics.com/2010/09/05/commercial-crew-eelv-and-avoiding-repeating-history/

3. From Spaceflightnow.com and This Week in Space: David Waters hosts the Sept. 5 edition of TWIS, which includes reports on the Ares 1 first stage ground test by ATK last week, the demise of NASA’s ICEsat Earth science satellite and the latest advances in the discovery of asteroids that may be suitable for human exploration in the decades ahead.
www.spaceflightnow.com/twis.

4. From Discovery.com: NASA plans a news mission, Solar Probe Plus. The spacecraft would fly into the sun’s atmosphere to find out why it’s so much hotter than the solar surface. A 2018 launching is anticipated.
http://news.discovery.com/space/solar-probe-plus-sun-corona.html

5. From the Washington Post: An editorial notes the evolving investigation into Toyota’s automobile accelerator problems appears close to identifying drivers as the cause, not automobile electronics. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the National Academy of Sciences and NASA are among those investigating as the direction of Congress.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/05/AR2010090502878.html

Brought to you by the Coalition for Space Exploration, CSExtra is a daily compilation of space industry news selected from hundreds of online media resources.  The Coalition is not the author or reporter of any of the stories appearing in CSExtra and does not control and is not responsible for the content of any of these stories.  The content available through CSExtra contains links to other websites and domains which are wholly independent of the Coalition, and the Coalition makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or authenticity of the information contained in any such site or domain and does not pre-screen or approve any content.   The Coalition does not endorse or receive any type of compensation from the included media outlets and is not responsible or liable in any way for any content of CSExtra or for any loss, damage or injury incurred as a result of any content appearing in CSExtra.  For information on the Coalition, visit www.spacecoalition.com or contact us via e-mail at Info@spacecoalition.com.

Desert RATS crew member heads for Space Exploration Rover on the Black Point Lava Flow Photo Credit/NASA Desert RATS

NASA’s Desert RATS is nearing the half-way point of its 15-day, 2010 field exercises on the Black Point Lava Flow in Northern Arizona.

It’s been nearly 24/7 for the 100 engineers and scientists involved in the high tech demonstration of rovers, habitats and robotic equipment under development by NASA and others for future human missions to the moon, Near Earth Asteroids, Mars and other deep space destinations.

The 13th annual Desert RATS, short for Research and Technology Studies, began on Aug. 31.

This year’s participants remain mindful that the success of their efforts depends on future generations of engineers and scientists, the young men and women now in school who chose to pursue studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or what educators call the STEM fields.

This year, the Coalition for Space Exploration has joined with the Challenger Centers for Space Science Education to offer the public a unique opportunity to follow along as the Desert RATS team puts a pair of habitable Space Exploration Rovers, a portable habitat, space suits, tools and the other high tech gear that will be needed for exciting voyages to distance destinations.

During the first week, the Desert RATS hosted a webcast that featured explanations of the activities from several of the major participants. as well as answers to questions posed by students and the public over Face Book.

Listen to last week’s archived 30-minute webcast here .

Here’s another link to the NASA’s Desert RATS  website, with its additional links to Face Book, Twitter and the other social media through which the science, engineering team is communicating with the public about its activities at the remote lava flow.

This year’s exercise has engineers and scientists working with extraordinary closeness on the design of equipment like the Space Exploration Rover,

“Rather than we as engineers going off and designing what we think is a great rover and then showing it to (the scientists) right before we fly, we’ve involved the scientists from the outset so they can tells us what they need the vehicle to do,” said Adam Abercromby, NASA’s deputy project manager for the solar powered SEVs. “They are helping us design a vehicle that is optimized for science.”

An astronaut and geologist is assigned to live and work aboard each rover for seven days. At the mid-point of the exercise, the rovers will dock with a portable Habitat Demonstration Unit. This year, the HDU, is functioning as more of a geology laboratory, medical station and repair shop for space suits and hand tools than a permanent habitat. Each rover is assigned a fresh astronaut/geologist crew before it departs for a final seven days of field testing.

“From the science perspective we’re really interested in how dual rover operations go,” said Jake Bleacher, one of the geology team members and a scientist from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. “We are testing several different communications scenarios using the rovers. Do they go together? Do they separate and go in different directions? How does that allow us to do the science on another planet?”

“When we go to any planetary surface, we are going to do field geology, that is the prime science driver,” said Jim Rice, a second rover geology from Goddard. “We are the people who can make the expert calls on the geology there, based on our traverse plans. If we need to make any changes, we are on the ground. Our experience in doing field work becomes of value there.”

Jupiter close up as imaged by Voyager 1 Photo Credit/NASA JPL

Sunday marked the 33rd anniversary of NASA’s Voyager I launching, the second of twin spacecraft that conducted historic flyby missions of the  solar system’s outermost  planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
Voyager 2 lifted off on Aug. 20, 1977.
The twin spacecraft, powered by radioisotope  thermalelectric generators, are still going strong and now have the honor of being the two most distant manmade objects.

Neptune as photographed by Voyager 2 Photo Credit/NASA JPL

Here’s a summary of the Voyager mission accomplishments provided by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where the two spacecraft were developed, http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/
Both spacecraft carry a “Golden Record,” a plaque that attempts to communicate the diversity of life on Earth, a message to any intelligent civilization that might encounter one of the long running Voyagers in the distant future.

Voyagers I and II carry a golden record with the story of Earth and its inhabitants Photo Credit/NASA JPL

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Sunday’s CSExtra offers a look at the latest reporting and commentary from the space frontier. In Central Florida, it’s a bitter sweet Labor Day weekend. Hundreds of contract workers are facing layoffs from the Kennedy Space Center in a few weeks. Unemployment in the region is already near 12 percent. NASA proves is value beyond spaceflight this summer, as the agency’s experts track the Gulf oil spill, assist trapped miners. New space rises in a Dallas suburb. China launches a communications satellite.

1. From Florida Today: The countdown is on for a major Kennedy Space Center lay off in a region of Florida already experiencing a near 12 percent unemployment rate.  On Oct. 1, some 900 will lose their jobs. “I get down for a moment or two,” says one worker who is nearing the loss of her job, “then I say, ‘that’s enough.’”
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20100905/NEWS01/9050324/KSC-workers-refocus-as-cuts-creep-closer

A. From Florida Today: NASA is about more than space travel, as this past summer demonstrates, writes columnist John Kelly. NASA’s experts helped to monitor the BP oil spill as well as rescue endangered sea turtles. They’ve conducted airborne research on hurricanes. NASA dispatched medical experts to Chile to assist with the rescue of 33 trapped miners.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20100905/COLUMNISTS0405/9050320/1086/John+Kelly++NASA+knows+more+than+space

B. From the Los Angeles Times: The scene at the San Jose Mine near Copiago in Chile, where 33 men have been trapped 2,300 feet underground since Aug. 5. Among those on hand last week to assist were experts from NASA. The lead for the NASA delegation, physician Michael Duncan, says one challenge faced by the men is the loss of sunlight, which in turn is leading to a vitamin D deficiency and a disruption of their sleep-wake cycles. “The Chileans are basically writing the book on how to rescue this many people….” notes Duncan.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-chile-miners-20100905,0,3073477,full.story

2. From the Dallas Observer: A look at the budding relationship between NASA and new space pioneer Armadillo Aerospace of Caddo Lakes. Suborbital space comes to North Texas.
http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2010/09/nasa_enlists_caddo_mills-based.php

3. From Spaceflightnow.com: China launches a communications satellite for domestic television and radio.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1009/04longmarch/

4. From the Coalition for Space Exploration: NASA’s Cassini spacecraft provides new imagery of Saturn’s moon Dione. http://spacecoalition.com/blog/just-in-raw-images-of-saturn-moon-dione

Brought to you by the Coalition for Space Exploration, CSExtra is a daily compilation of space industry news selected from hundreds of online media resources.  The Coalition is not the author or reporter of any of the stories appearing in CSExtra and does not control and is not responsible for the content of any of these stories.  The content available through CSExtra contains links to other websites and domains which are wholly independent of the Coalition, and the Coalition makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or authenticity of the information contained in any such site or domain and does not pre-screen or approve any content.   The Coalition does not endorse or receive any type of compensation from the included media outlets and is not responsible or liable in any way for any content of CSExtra or for any loss, damage or injury incurred as a result of any content appearing in CSExtra.  For information on the Coalition, visit www.spacecoalition.com or contact us via e-mail at Info@spacecoalition.com.

The Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn has churned out new images of the moon, Dione. Imagery was taken on Sept. 4, 2010 and includes the best views of Dione’s north pole region that Cassini has captured to date.

“Just in … crisp, detailed raw images from Cassini’s close flyby of Dione earlier today,” said Carolyn Porco, Cassini Imaging Team Leader and Director of the Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for Operations (CICLOPS) at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado.

The new imagery includes views of Dione’s north polar region at a never-before-seen resolution, Porco added.

“Notice especially the long, bright ice cliffs crossing a region of the moon that, during the Voyager mission, became known as the ‘wispy terrain’. Voyager couldn’t resolve what Cassini has since seen in great detail,” Porco said, “that this terrain is not crossed by wispy-looking bands of hummocky bright ice, as was previously thought, but instead is laced with organized sets of fractures that reveal bright, clean, sub-surface ice.”

Cassini completed its initial four-year mission to explore the Saturn System in June 2008. Now, the healthy spacecraft is working overtime on the Cassini Equinox Mission, seeking answers to new questions raised in Cassini’s first years at Saturn.

The mission’s extension, through September 2010, is named for the Saturnian equinox, which occurs in August 2009 when the sun will shine directly on the equator and then begin to illuminate the northern hemisphere and the rings’ northern face.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

For the new, just issued imagery, go to:

http://www.ciclops.org/view_event/141/Dione_Rev_137_Raw_Preview?js=1

By Leonard David

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Saturday’s CSExtra features the latest reporting and commentary on developments in space science. In new studies, experts suggest NASA’s near 35-year-old Viking missions found evidence of organic compounds on Mars after all, strengthening the case for some form of past or present life on the Red Planet. Famed cosmologist Stephen Hawking and a co-writer address the state of the universe and the notion of grand design in what seems likely to be a controversial new book. A new strategy to rid a California nuclear research facility of contaminated soil. Plans at NASA to add a June 2011 shuttle mission remain in limbo.

1. From the New York Times:  Scientists have re-assessed findings from NASA’s Viking I and II missions of 35 years ago and determined they may well have found evidence of organic compounds in the Martian soil, after all. The new interpretation comes from findings of perchlorate by NASA’s 2008 Phoenix Lander mission to the Martian north pole and a new analysis of Mars-like soil from Chile’s Atacama Desert. Some experts disagree with the latest interpretations. But there is hope that NASA’s super over, Curiosity, can solve the mystery. Curiosity and its on board chemistry lab is scheduled for launching to Mars next year. Organics are considered the building blocks for life.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/04/science/space/04mars.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=NASA&st=cse

A. From the Washington Post: While the new findings regarding the Viking missions do not confirm that Mars hosts, or once hosted, some form of life, they do make the prospect more likely.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/03/AR2010090306186.html

2. From the Wall Street Journal: Cosmologist Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow present a summary of their new book, The Grand Design, in which they address what modern science has to say about the formation of the universe and intelligent design. They argue that the laws of gravity and quantum theory can account for the universe before us. We are likely part of a multi-verse, they write.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704206804575467921609024244.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEADNewsCollection

3. From the Los Angeles Times: The Department of Energy and NASA join on a strategy to clean toxic wastes from a former nuclear research facility at Santa Susana, Calif. Contaminated soil from the site overlooking the San Fernando Valley will be trucked to disposal sites in Utah. The cleanup should be complete by 2017. Santa Susana, now owned by NASA and the Boeing Co., was the site of a reactor leak on July 14, 1959.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0904-cleanup-20100904,0,658613.story

4. From the Coalition for Space Exploration:  A study team from Johns Hopkins University, led by Marshall Kaplan, outlines a strategy to address the growing issue of orbital debris at the AIAA 2010 Conference in Anaheim, Calif. Current technologies will permit the removal of only the largest debris threats, Kaplan advises. Nonetheless, something needs to be done in the next 10 to 20 years, he tells the conference.
http://spacecoalition.com/blog/clutter-in-the-cosmos-%e2%80%93-tough-challenges-ahead-in-removing-space-junk

5. From Spaceflightnow.com: Efforts to add another shuttle missions, STS-135 aboard Atlantis, in June/July 2011 remain in limbo as deliberations over the space agency’s 2011 budget continue in Congress. Meanwhile, NASA is continuing with efforts to turn a rescue flight for the STS-134 mission, set for launching aboard Endeavour on Feb. 26, into the final shuttle flight. That mission would launch on June 28 with supplies for the International Space Station. However, funding must be forthcoming by January, and it looks like NASA will begin the 2011 fiscal year on Oct. 1 with a continuing resolution, rather than a new budget.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts135/100903limbo/

A. From Spaceflightnow.com: The crew of the shuttle Discovery will carry out a spacewalk to clean up the work site around a failed coolant pump on the International Space Station. The pump module was replaced with a recent series of unscheduled spacewalks. Discovery’s flight, STS-133, is targeted for a Nov. 1 lift off.  Among the unfinished tasks — moving the old pump module to an external stowage platform for possible return to Earth on a late June 2011 shuttle flight and attaching a power cable for a new pressurized stowage module.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts133/100903eva/

Brought to you by the Coalition for Space Exploration, CSExtra is a daily compilation of space industry news selected from hundreds of online media resources.  The Coalition is not the author or reporter of any of the stories appearing in CSExtra and does not control and is not responsible for the content of any of these stories.  The content available through CSExtra contains links to other websites and domains which are wholly independent of the Coalition, and the Coalition makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or authenticity of the information contained in any such site or domain and does not pre-screen or approve any content.   The Coalition does not endorse or receive any type of compensation from the included media outlets and is not responsible or liable in any way for any content of CSExtra or for any loss, damage or injury incurred as a result of any content appearing in CSExtra.  For information on the Coalition, visit www.spacecoalition.com or contact us via e-mail at Info@spacecoalition.com.

ANAHEIM, California – Dealing with the messy facts of orbital debris circling the Earth is receiving the attention of researchers here at SPACE 2010, a major meeting of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).

A look at how to deal with derelict space junk was presented by Marshall Kaplan and his colleagues at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. The work concludes that not all debris can, or should, be removed. Technologies and systems for capturing very small debris do not exist.

Furthermore, only the largest of the objects can be effectively addressed with current technology.

Kaplan has looked into all types of solutions proposed to date, from nets, harpoons and lassos to inflatable fluff balls and even “debris tenders” – with each having their own set of issues.

“Artificial satellites and launch vehicles have created an ever growing number and variety of orbiting debris objects ranging in size from a few microns to several meters,” Kaplan reported. “The urgency of the situation has been exacerbated by the 2007 Chinese anti-satellite test and the 2009 collision of Iridium and Cosmos satellites.”

Kaplan pointed out that sometime in the next one or two decades a space debris reduction program may be needed to assure continued access to, and use of, space for applications and exploration.

Among a range of findings, Kaplan noted that current technology capabilities will allow “selective” removal of certain very large debris objects in low Earth orbit in the short-term. Resident space objects up higher — in geosynchronous orbits that are expired — can be moved to graveyard orbits through the use of special tender satellites. However, the cost will be, literally, sky-high, he added.

In short, Kaplan advised, significant work is ahead in identifying engineering issues for all major modes of on-the-spot space debris capture.

By Leonard David

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Friday’s CSExtra finds NASA-led researchers taking advantage of belated hurricane season activity in the Atlantic. Satellites, astronauts aboard the International Space Station join with unpiloted aircraft to snap photos and take measurements as Hurricane Earl intensifies. Canada earns its first command of the International Space Station. NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver addresses the AIAA 2010 Convention in Anaheim pleased at the support for the agency’s $19 billion bottom line.

1. From the Los Angeles Times: NASA’s Global Hawk drone, based at the Dryden Flight Research Center, joins a hurricane research project, gathering pictures and taking measurements inside Atlantic hurricanes. NASA’s Genesis and Rapid Intensification Project experiment will run through Sept. 30. Two other aircraft are involved as well.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2010/09/nasa-global-hawk-northrop-grumman.html

A. From Discovery.com: Satellites from NASA and NOAA dissect Hurricane Earl as the cyclone parallels the U.S. East Coast. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station provide spectacular imagery as well.
http://news.discovery.com/earth/hurricane-earl-satellite.html

2. From the Associated Press via the Washington Post:  Veteran astronaut Chris Hadfield to become the first Canadian to command the International Space Station, the station’s NASA-led partnership announced on Thursday. He’ll lead for three months in 2013.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/02/AR2010090202291.html

A. From the National Post of Canada: Hadfield’s selection to command is a symbol of what Canada has achieved in space with a small budget.
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/toronto/Major+Canada+space+program/3476029/story.html

3. From Spacepolitics.com: NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver notes a recent “lessening” of the tensions over NASA’s future in remarks before the 2010 AIAA Conference in Anaheim earlier this week. Garver finds wide support for NASA’s $19 billion bottom line budget in 2011. She urges support for the Administration’s priorities in the authorization and appropriation measures still making their through the House and Senate, a commercial space transportation initiative, more spending on Earth sciences, an extension of International Space Station activities and work on a new heavy lift rocket. However, she’s concerned lawmakers are overlooking the cost of canceling NASA’s Constellation back-to-the-moon program.
http://www.spacepolitics.com/2010/09/02/garver-a-lessening-of-tensions-in-the-nasa-budget-debate/

4. From Space.com: A new survey of Near-Earth asteroids using NASA’s Spitzer space telescope finds surprising diversity. One hundred objects were surveyed with the infrared telescope to gain new information about the origins of the rocky objects.
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/asteroids-near-earth-variety-100902.html

5. From Spaceflightnow.com:  India’s Chandrayaan 2 moon mission will fly with a Russian lander when it heads for the lunar surface in 2013. Neither U.S. nor European instrumentation is currently planned for an orbiter and lander that will study the moon’s tenuous atmosphere and search for underground water ice.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1009/02chandrayaan/

6. From the Los Angeles Times: State and federal officials weigh the future of chimpanzees once used as subjects in the early days of NASA’s space program. Animal rights groups oppose a move that should shift the animals from New Mexico to the Southwest National Primate Research Center in San Antonio, where they may once again become test subjects.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-alamogordo-chimps-20100903,0,5905193.story

Brought to you by the Coalition for Space Exploration, CSExtra is a daily compilation of space industry news selected from hundreds of online media resources.  The Coalition is not the author or reporter of any of the stories appearing in CSExtra and does not control and is not responsible for the content of any of these stories.  The content available through CSExtra contains links to other websites and domains which are wholly independent of the Coalition, and the Coalition makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or authenticity of the information contained in any such site or domain and does not pre-screen or approve any content.   The Coalition does not endorse or receive any type of compensation from the included media outlets and is not responsible or liable in any way for any content of CSExtra or for any loss, damage or injury incurred as a result of any content appearing in CSExtra.  For information on the Coalition, visit www.spacecoalition.com or contact us via e-mail at Info@spacecoalition.com.