Summary: Hello Space Cadets, it’s time to play space news catchup. I’m Benjamin Higginbotham and this is your SpacePod for November 29th, 2010. We took last week off for Thanksgiving, so now we need a moment to catch up. Here are some of the top Space News items. Space Shuttle Discovery is no longer targeting a December 3rd launch date. Actually, no real new target date has been set yet. [Video] The next launch window opens up on December 17th, but NASA will not launch until they are good and ready. Should we miss this window there is a Beta cutoff and logistics issues that may prevent the shuttle from launching until late February, 2011. Currently Space Shuttle Discovery sits in wait at Launch Pad 39A while engineers continue to analyze the vehicle for flight readiness. There has been a change of command aboard the International Space Station. Expedition 25 commander Douglass Wheelock or Astro_Wheels on twitter has handed off the reigns to Expedition 26 commander Scott Kelley on November 24th, 2010. [Video] The next day three Expedition 25 crew members, Doug Wheelock, Shannon Walker and Soyuz Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin headed home aboard a Soyuz space craft and landed safely later that night. [Video] Masten Space Systems has signed an agreement with Space Florida to begin test launches from Launch Complex 36 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Masten hopes to have a demonstration launch some time in 2011. For those who don’t remember, Masten Space Systems was the Level 2 Northrup Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge in late 2009. We thought something was up when Dave was hanging around Florida waay more than usual. Congrats to both Masten and the Space Coast. And finally on November 22nd next generation spaceship company SpaceX received the first ever FAA license to return a private spacecraft to Earth. This is a much needed step forward to allow their Dragon capsule to begin testing in space and return to Earth. The Falcon 9 Flight 2 demonstration flight will be very similar to the first Falcon 9 flight 1 but will also involve the Dragon spacecraft seperating from the second stage and will demonstrate operational communications, navigation, maneuvering and reentry. NASA tweeted out congratulations to SpaceX on getting their new and shiny FAA license. The Spacevidcast Live show RETURNS this Friday at 0200 UTC. Remember, we’re still giving away FREE Roku HD players so you can watch the final launch of Space Shuttle Discovery on your HDTV with your friends all gathered around. A special thanks to Perforce Software for sponsoring the launch and allowing us to bring you not only HD coverage but also mobile and SD all at the same time! The only way to win is to watch live, and for those of you in the US that is Thursday night at 6:00pm Pacific Standard Time or 9:00pm Eastern Standard Time. We look forward to seeing you there!
