Space news

Spacewalk ends; Strela boom moved, but other tasks deferred
 
William Harwood - CBS News
 
Cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Anton Shkaplerov spent six hours and 15 minutes working outside the International Space Station Thursday, moving a telescoping crane from one Russian module to another. But the work proved more difficult than expected and the spacewalkers did not have time to install debris shields on the Zvezda command module as originally planned. They did, however, manage to install a materials science space exposure experiment on the hull of the station and to collect one of two surface residue samples under insulation on the lab's exterior as part of a long-range engineering study. Installation of support struts for a Russian spacewalk ladder was deferred.
 
Spacewalking astronauts move crane, skip shields
 
Marcia Dunn - Associated Press
 
Two spacewalking astronauts moved a construction crane outside the International Space Station on Thursday, a cumbersome job that took so long they scrapped hanging shields to protect against space junk. Russians Oleg Kononenko and Anton Shkaplerov spent more than three hours struggling to move the 46-foot crane, using another boom. By the time it was locked into its new position, the two were beat.
 
Spacewalkers prepare Russian module for dumping
 
Irene Klotz - Reuters
 
A pair of Russian cosmonauts floated outside the International Space Station on Thursday to prepare for the removal of a Russian docking module due to be flown into the atmosphere for incineration next year. Cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Anton Shkaplerov worked outside the station during a six-hour, 15-minute outing, the first of three spacewalks scheduled this year. Their first task was to move one of two 46-foot (14-metre) Stela cargo booms from the outside of Pirs, a Russian docking module that has been part of the $100 billion space station since 2001.
 
2 Russian Cosmonauts Move Space Station Crane in 6-Hour Spacewalk
 
Tariq Malik - Space.com
 
Two spacewalking cosmonauts moved a bulky zero-gravity crane to a new home on the International Space Station Thursday, but ran out of time before they could beef up the orbiting lab's armor against space junk. Russian spaceflyers Oleg Kononenko and Anton Shkaplerov spent more than six hours working outside the space station during the spacewalk. Their main goal was to move a space construction crane, called Strela, from the Pirs docking port on the bottom of the space station to a rooftop module called Poisk.
 
Two Russian cosmonauts complete ISS walk
Cosmonauts complete a six-hour, 15-minute spacewalk
 
James Dean - Florida Today
 
Two Russian cosmonauts are safely back inside an International Space Station airlock after completing their most important objective during a six-hour, 15-minute spacewalk. Expedition 30 Flight Engineers Oleg Kononenko and Anton Shkaplerov moved a 46-foot telescoping boom from one docking port to another on the station’s Russian segment. That job took longer than expected, so a plan to install a set of debris shields to the Zvezda Service Module was put off.
 
Spacewalking Cosmonauts Struggle to Transfer Cargo Crane
 
Mark Carreau - Aviation Week
 
Spacewalking cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Anton Shkaplerov struggled Thursday to transfer the Strela 1 cargo crane from the Pirs to the Poisk module during a scheduled six hour spacewalk outside the International Space Station’s Russian segment. The excursion got underway at 9:31 a.m., EST, and the two men fell 90 minutes behind schedule, as they wrestled with safety tethers and a second Stela crane attached to Pirs and used in the transfer.
 
France, Italy Shun Orion Development
 
Amy Svitak - Aviation Week
 
Two of Europe’s biggest International Space Station contributors have rejected a NASA proposal that would see the European Space Agency (ESA) pay its share of ISS operating costs by building a propulsion module for NASA’s Orion crew transport capsule, saying the proposal is technologically lackluster and unlikely to generate public enthusiasm. For now, participating ESA member governments are covering their share of space station utilities and other operating expenses with routine supply runs of the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), a sophisticated cargo craft capable of automatic rendezvous and docking that is powerful enough to boost the ISS into a higher orbit. However, with only three such missions remaining, ESA member governments are weighing a follow-on barter arrangement with NASA to cover about €450 million ($600 million) in space station utilities costs anticipated in 2017-20.
 
Local students to link with International Space Station
 
Bruce Scruton - New Jersey Herald
 
While John Glen was the first American to orbit the Earth, some area students have already established -- or will establish -- some space-related firsts of their own. In 2003, a group of students from Lounsberry Hollow Middle School in Vernon became the first New Jersey students to talk to astronauts aboard the International Space Station, which was in the early stages of construction, through an amateur radio link to the orbiting spacecraft. On Wednesday, eighth-graders from the Newton, Green and Andover school districts will gather at Newton High School and become the first students in the New Jersey/New York/Pennsylvania area to talk with astronauts on the now-completed International Space Station through a video downlink.
 
Scott signs bill to improve space-related infrastructure
 
James Dean - Florida Today
 
Saying “the Space Coast is extremely important to us,” Florida Gov. Rick Scott on Thursday signed one of Space Florida’s top legislative priorities into law, making it the first bill to emerge from the 2012 session in Tallahassee. The bill tweaks the Florida Department of Transportation’s definition of launch support facilities to match a broader federal definition, one that includes not only launch pads and control centers but assembly and processing facilities. The change expected to facilitate funding for infrastructure upgrades that could help the state attract more commercial space activity.
 
Good news for laid-off NASA workers in Houston
 
Houston Chronicle's Texas on the Potomac
 
The Labor Department today awarded a $3.1 million emergency federal grant to the Texas Workforce Commission to help cover re-employment services for workers laid off from NASA’s Space Shuttle program at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Rep. Gene Green, D-Houston, the dean of the Houston-area congressional delegation, announced the Obama administration’s decision.
 
Japan to set up new space policy panel
 
Mainichi Daily News
 
The government decided Tuesday to set up a space policy panel in the Cabinet Office that will advise Cabinet ministers on improvements to the country's space program, officials said. It is also considering establishing a space strategy office to serve as the control tower on space policies by adjusting measures taken by various ministries and agencies, they said. With the launch of the new panel, the Space Activities Commission, an organization under the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, will be abolished.
 
China's next space mission to carry 3 astronauts
 
Associated Press
 
China’s next space mission will carry three astronauts who will dock with and live inside an experimental orbiting module launched last year, state media said Friday. The Shenzhou 9 spacecraft will be launched aboard its Long March 2F rocket sometime between June and August, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing an unidentified spokesman for the manned space program, known as Shenzhou, or “Sacred Vessel.” The astronauts will manually dock with the Tiangong 1 module that was launched last year and conduct scientific experiments while aboard, Xinhua said. It didn’t say how long the mission was supposed to last.
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