SpaceX test flight slips another month to late April
William Harwood – CBS News
Work to test critical flight software that will be used by a new commercial cargo craft to rendezvous with the International Space Station has forced Space Exploration Technologies -- SpaceX -- to slip its first launch to the lab complex by at least another month, from late March to late April at the earliest, to make sure complex fault routines and other critical components will work properly, officials said Thursday. "SpaceX is continuing to work with NASA to set a new target date for launch, expected to be late April," the company said in a brief statement. "The primary driver for the schedule continues to be the need to conduct extensive software testing. This is a challenging mission, and we intend to take every necessary precaution in order to improve the likelihood of success."
Independent human spaceflight sought by Japan
Stephen Clark - SpaceflightNow.com
The Japanese space agency is pushing for a domestic human spaceflight capability, proposing modifications to the country's International Space Station cargo delivery system to carry astronauts into orbit by 2025. If approved by the Japanese government, the craft's development would follow a crawl-walk-run approach. Japan has already demonstrated its H-2 Transfer Vehicle can haul cargo and experiments to the space station, and next up could be developing a return capsule to bring equipment from the outpost back to Earth. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency plans to fly seven HTVs in support of the space station through 2016. Two Japanese cargo freighters successfully flew in 2009 and 2011, and five more are due to launch at a rate of one per year. JAXA's leadership is openly pitching the HTV as the foundation of a manned spacecraft, which could fly Japanese crews as soon as 2025.
Agreements between SA, Russian space agencies imminent
Keith Campbell - Creamer Media (Engineering News) - South Africa
The South African National Space Agency (Sansa) and its Russian counterpart, Roscosmos, will, all being well, sign two agreements this month. One concerns the Radioastron space telescope mission and the other the Glonass navigation satellite constellation – the Russian equivalent to America’s global positioning system. In addition, and separately, Roscosmos has indicated to South Africa that its is open to carrying out joint Russian-South African scientific experiments on the International Space Station. (These would be executed by Russian crew members on the space station, and would not involve sending South Africans into space.)
NASA budget cuts could limit planetary visits
Agency braces for budget cuts Monday
James Dean - Florida Today
While trying to limit the post-shuttle gap in human spaceflight, the Obama administration could open a new gap in robotic exploration of the solar system. Planetary scientists fear a five-year spending plan set to be unveiled Monday will call for NASA to abandon missions to Mars in 2016 and 2018, put off work on any flagship planetary mission and delay multiple smaller-class missions. “My impressions are that the planetary science program may be in deep trouble,” said Scott Hubbard, a Stanford University professor and former “Mars Czar” at NASA. The budget details will be publicly released at 1 p.m. Monday, an hour before Administrator Charlie Bolden presents the plan publicly at NASA Headquarters.
Scientists say NASA cutting missions to Mars
Seth Borenstein - Associated Press
Scientists say NASA is about to propose major cuts in its exploration of other planets, especially Mars. And NASA's former science chief is calling it irrational. With limited money for science and an over-budget new space telescope, the space agency essentially had to make a choice in where it wanted to explore: the neighboring planet or the far-off cosmos. Mars lost.
Big NASA Budget Cuts to Slash Mars Missions, Experts Say
Mike Wall - Space.com
NASA's budget for the next fiscal year is likely to include deep cuts to planetary science programs, forcing the space agency to withdraw altogether from an international effort to send two new missions to Mars, experts say. While exactly how much money is allocated to NASA is unknown, insiders expect a significant reduction in the portion slotted for robotic exploration of Mars and other solar system bodies. Not all NASA programs will suffer as badly as planetary science in next year's budget. For example, commercial crew development — NASA's effort to encourage private spaceflight companies to start ferrying astronauts to low-Earth orbit and back — appears poised for a bump. This week, NASA announced that it is planning to award up to $500 million to each of two spaceflight companies over the next two years to help them complete
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