Space policy roundup – April.22.14

Space policy/politics related links:

Webcasts:

David Meerman Scott & Richard Jurek, Friday, 4-18-14 | Thespaceshow’s Blog – David Steerman Scott & Richard Jurek discussed their new book, Marketing the Moon:  The Selling of the Apollo Lunar Program (www.marketingthemoon.com).

A Second Earth, and OSIRIS REx is Go for Asteroid Bennu | The Planetary Society

B612 Foundation: Webcast briefing today + Video shows asteroid impacts since year 2000

The B612 Foundation today released the video below and will be webcasting a news conference from Seattle at 2:30 pm EST (11:30 am PST) to discuss it. Here is their description of the video:

Between 2000 and 2013, a network of sensors that monitors Earth around the clock listening for the infrasound signature of nuclear detonations detected 26 explosions on Earth ranging in energy from 1-600 kilotons – all caused not by nuclear explosions, but rather by asteroid impacts.

These findings were recently released from the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization, which operates the network.

To put this data in perspective, the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in 1945 exploded with an energy impact of 15 kilotons. While most of these asteroids exploded too high in the atmosphere to do serious damage on the ground, the evidence is important in estimating the frequency of a potential “city-killer-size” asteroid.

For more information on this data, please check out our Impact Video FAQ.

Yutu lunar rover update

Leonard David reports on the latest info from China on the status of the Yutu lunar rover: Update: China’s Yutu Moon Rover

According to the news outlet, there are “last-ditch efforts” to rescue the ailing lunar rover.

Chinese engineers now say a blockage in the rover’s power circuitry is at fault for issues encountered and specialists are looking to bypass the problem. The trouble has meant that the rover’s main driving mechanism cannot be powered up. Yutu – or “Jade Rabbit” — is currently incapable of activating its wheels or solar panels.