William Harwood reports on CBS and another report on MSNBC. YouTube video of the Soyuz TMA-16 rollout is here. Linked here is an Associated Press story on Russian space launch traditions and rituals.
NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite mission (LCROSS) based on new analysis of available lunar data, has shifted the target crater from Cabeus A to Cabeus (proper), according to a NASA Ames press release.
The next Soyuz TMA-16 mission to the space station is on the "Gagarin's Start" launch pad for a Wednesday blast-off from the Kazakh steppe, more from AP and Russia Today. NASA plans TV and webcast coverage of the launch Wednesday beginning at 1:45 AM. Soyuz Spaceflight participant Guy Laliberte plans a multi-million dollar October 9 global space show. 
Future American, Russian, Chinese and Indian robotic spacecraft to the Moon will have enhanced scientific interest with the discovery of water-ice molecules spread about lunar surface. Over the next four years, missions are being planned. 
NASA now formulating plans for new prize challenges with the help of engineers and scientists throughout NASA - and we would like to consider ideas from private industry, outside organizations, and the public. The deadline is November 8, 2009 to submit new challenge ideas. More here. 
Space News is now reporting that roughly two-dozen companies had expressed interest in $50 million to a so-called Commercial Crew Development (CCDEV) program in an effort to accelerate development of commercial human space transportation systems. Industry proposals were due Sept. 22, and NASA expects to make one or more awards in November from among those who actually submitted proposals.
The California Space Authority is hosting the 2009 Lunar Regolith Excavation Challenge Saturday and Sunday, October 17 and 18, 2009 at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, CA. with the California Space Education and Workforce Institute spearheading the event. The NASA Centennial Challenges is providing the $500,000 first place prize money. Moonraker, TeleOp, Thunderbird, Astrobotic Moon digger and Attila are among the over 20 challenger teams signed-up to dig lunar simulant in 2009. Twitter the Regolith Challenge.
Human colonization of the Moon may have just taken a bold step forward with the announcements of confirmed water. Many lunar scientists and would-be lunar real estate developers believe the South Pole region will be where the first human settlements will be staked. Perhaps it is time to get to know the important real estate. The above YouTube video gives one an idea of the important lunar geography around Shackleton Crater [video].
NASA hopes to verify water-ice deposits when its Lunar Crater Observations and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) impacts crater Cabeus A near the moon's south pole on Oct. 9, 2009.
The MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging, or MESSENGER, spacecraft will do a close encounter (142 miles from the surface) of the inner-most planet Mercury on Tuesday, September 29, 2009 to set the stage to go into orbit around the planet in March 2011. More from UPI. 
Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos head Anatoly Perminov said earlier today in Moscow that the United States will continue utlization of the space shuttle fleet beyond 2011 saying: "We have received information from certain sources that the use of space shuttles could be extended beyond 2011." Perminov added that this information arrived through unofficial channels, according to Interfax.
The Russian space agency Roscosmos has now officially delayed the Phobos-Grunt spacecraft to to study and return samples from the Martian moon Phobos along with the Chinese Mars orbiter. The United States had previously delayed the Mars Science Laboratory mission [video] to 2011 too. Favorable launch opportunities to the Martian system occur only every 26 months, therefore, the American, Russian, and Chinese missions to explore the Red Planet will be reset for launch in 2011 for 2012 exploration.
The above NASA press conference continues at NASA YouTube 2, NASA YouTube 3, NASA Q & A 4, and NASA Q & A 5. The science may be a game-changer for lunar exploration and colonization by humans in the future. At a minimum, the lunar water confirmation demonstrates that the neglect of the lunar exploration since the days of Apollo has been an error. Water on the Moon is like gold. The announcements were also shared by Brown University and the University of Maryland.
News of significant large water deposits at the poles of the Moon is giving rise to more serious scientific thought of "possible correlation between locations of polar water ice and lava tubes" for future human lunar habitats, says Andrew Daga.
WATER UPDATE: --- Moon water and lots of it is expected to be announced at a 2 PM EDT press conference set for Thursday at NASA HQ detailing the results from the The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) that was abaord the science suite of India's now defuct Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiting spacecraft.
The Russians are testing a spacesuit for 500-days utilization on the surface of Mars. The question is: 'when will it be worn on Mars?'
More information is located at the Cassini spacecraft web page. Hat tip to Dr. Mitch Gordon at the SETI Institute for expanding the interest in the rings.
Timescapes Timelapse: Mountain Light from Tom @ Timescapes on Vimeo.
More from Space.com and the Orlando Sentinel. The ticker tape parade will be held Walt Disney World in Florida on Friday, Oct. 2, 2009 beginning at 2:45 PM EST to celebrate Buzz Lightyear's record-setting 468 days in space. He will be joined by Dr. Buzz Aldrin in the parade.
Black Brant XII Suborbital Sounding Rocket was launched to study the Earth's highest clouds from the NASA Wallops Flight Facility from Wallops Island, VA. The light came from an artificial noctilucent cloud formed by the exhaust particles of the rocket's fourth stage about 173 miles high. The strange sight caused reports on CNN, AP, Examiner, and a unique report from WFMZ-TV 69 about the Charged Aerosol Release Experiment (CARE). More from Space.com.
Space Shuttle Discovery STS-133, the last mission to space for the fleet of aging orbiters, is now set for launch from the Kennedy Space Center on September 16, 2010. The last shuttle crew has been named consiting of just five astronauts. The smaller crew will enable the launch of a slightly larger mass payload.
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter's seven scientific instruments have indeed confirmed the presence of large amounts of hydrogen -- a marker for water -- in permanently shadowed south pole craters, where scientists had known there were deposits of hydrogen. But the instruments have also found the element in regions where the sun shines, reports The Los Angeles Times.
NASA scientists said Thursday that this could mean water is buried underground. Water could not exist on the surface, where it is exposed to daytime temperatures as high as 220 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Richard Vondrak, project scientist for the mission, known as LRO.
Scientists also suggest that the coldest spot in the solar system may well be the Moon's South Pole while producing the first ever temperature map of the lunar surface. Temperatures there were measured at 397 degrees below zero. That's just 62 degrees higher than the lowest temperature possible, notes an AP story. That ultra-cold temperature is important because it can trap volatile chemicals, such as water and methane, said NASA probe project scientist Richard Vondrak with more from Science Daily.
The story of water on the Moon is related in MSNBC, The Scientific American, and The New York Times. Many believe a major finding of water at the Moon will be the necessary driver to bring human astronauts back to the lunar surface along with taikonauts and cosmonauts [sound track].
The Demonstration Flight H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) was successfully berthed at the International Space Station (ISS) on September 18, 2009 following the successful September 11, 2009 launch aboard a the H-IIB Test Flight Launch Vehicle from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan. The HTV spacecraft will remain docked with the ISS until November 1, 2009 provding ample time to unload the five tons of cargo for the Kibō Japanese Experiment Module. The HTV will ultimately burn-up upon re-entry into the atmosphere.
