Space news

Ariane 5 gets go ahead to launch European cargo craft to ISS
 
Brahmand Defense & Aerospace News
 
European workhorse rocket Ariane 5 has been cleared to launch the third automated transfer vehicle (ATV-3) on a supply and servicing mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on March 23. The rocket rolled from its final integration building to the launch pad on Wednesday to lift off its heaviest payload ever - the automated transfer vehicle weighing over 20 metric tons. The launch timing for the mission is set at 1:34 am local time in French Guiana on Friday (11:34 pm CDT tonight).
 
Safety group warns NASA Commercial Crew adviser teams stay objective
Commercial crew helpers reminded to stay objective
 
James Dean - Florida Today
 
Concerned about the design of some propulsion system components in its Dragon capsule, SpaceX engineers turned to a small NASA team for advice. The so-called Partner Integration Team, one of seven assigned to work with each of the companies developing commercial crew vehicles, put SpaceX in touch with the right NASA expert. The connection helped “get us to solution in a timely manner,” said Garrett Reisman, head of SpaceX’s program to upgrade the Dragon for human spaceflight. NASA is counting on such collaboration to speed the development of private space taxis and restore America’s ability to deliver astronauts to the International Space Station. While independent safety advisers recognized the important role the NASA partner teams will play as the Commercial Crew program progresses — company proposals for a third round of NASA funding are due Friday — they also raised concern that government officials could get too cozy with their commercial partners.
 
NASA to announce winners of global ISS student experiment competition
 
Mike Killian - AmericaSpace.org
 
Thursday NASA astronaut Suni Williams, who has flown on the space shuttle and served on ISS Expeditions 14 and 15, will announce two winners of the global YouTube Space Lab science competition. The contest challenged high-school age students to design science experiments to fly on the International Space Station, and thousands of students from over 80 countries answered the call.  NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Space Adventures all cooperated in launching the worldwide contest. Online voting narrowed down the nominees to six regional finalists last February. Two of the six team finalists are from the United States – the other four are from Spain, Egypt, India, and New Zealand.  YouTube will live-stream the winning team’s experiments when they are performed onboard the International Space Station later this year. The awards ceremony will take place Thursday at 10:00 a.m. EDT in the Newseum’s Knight Room at 555 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W. in Washington. For more information about the YouTube Space Lab contest and the competition’s finalists, please visit http://www.youtube.com/spacelab
 
Excitement Builds for 1st Private Spaceship Flight to Space Station
 
Clara Moskowitz - Space.com
 
Anticipation and excitement over the first-ever launch of a private spaceship to the International Space Station next month is steadily building, astronauts and NASA flight controllers said Tuesday. Private space company SpaceX, based in Hawthorne, Calif., is preparing to launch its Dragon capsule to the space station April 30. The unmanned capsule will be the first of a new fleet of commercial spacecraft being developed to deliver cargo to the station in the wake of the space shuttle retirement last year.
 
NASA's administrator Bolden defends space shuttles' new homes
Ohio was left out, and congressman wants answers
 
Ledyard King - Florida Today
 
Less than a month before Discovery is set to become a permanent exhibit at the Smithsonian, NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden Jr. found himself again defending his choice of the four sites that will get the retired space shuttles. Appearing before a House Appropriations panel Wednesday, Bolden was pressed by Ohio Rep. Steve Austria to explain whether he would have chosen the same winners -- Kennedy Space Center, New York City, Los Angeles and the Washington, D.C., region -- had flaws in the selection process unearthed by NASA's inspector general in August been known before last year's announcement in April. Bolden's unequivocal answer: yes.
 
Congress Grills NASA Chief on Planetary Science Cuts
 
Denise Chow - Space.com
 
Lawmakers grilled NASA chief Charles Bolden Wednesday, saying the deep cuts to NASA's planetary science program in the agency's 2013 budget request will "cannibalize" future Mars exploration and threaten America's leadership in space. Bolden testified before members of the U.S. House Appropriations commerce, justice, science subcommittee that approves NASA's annual budget in a hearing this morning in Washington, D.C. Throughout the nearly three-hour-long hearing, Bolden fielded tough questions from Republican and Democrat lawmakers alike. One particularly contentious topic was how cuts to NASA's planetary science division could jeopardize future robotic missions to Mars and other intriguing destinations in the solar system.
 
Adams spells out NASA wish list