In Today’s Deep Space Extra…With strong Congressional support, work on NASA’s Space Launch System exploration rocket will continue beyond a change in administrations, agency Administrator Charles Bolden told a Marshall Space Flight Center gathering.

Human Deep Space Exploration

NASA administrator says Space Launch System ‘protected’ against next president
Alabama.com (5/20): The U.S. Congress is committed to the development of the Space Launch System exploration rocket and will protect the project through the upcoming change in presidential administrations, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said Friday in remarks at the Marshall Space Flight Center.

Orbital ATK proposes lunar orbit habitat
Spaceflight Insider (5/21): Orbital ATK outlined its plans for a lunar orbiting habitat for astronauts during a May 18 hearing before the U.S. House Space Subcommittee. Orbital ATK and other U.S. aerospace companies are working with NASA on the concept as part of a larger strategy to reach Mars with human explorers in the mid-2030s. Orbital’s plan would expand the initial habitat based on the Cygnus spacecraft currently used to re-supply the space station. The plan would rely on launches of the Space Launch System exploration rocket and Orion. The habitat would reach lunar orbit in 2020.

NASA Administrator: We used to buy the rocket. Now we buy the service.
Washington Post (5/20): Humanoids and other new technologies will help to prepare the Martian surface for human explorers, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden predicted during a recent Washington Post sponsored Transformers event. “We may find, based on what we know about the radiation environment that we want to go underground… it may be that robots go subterranean and establish the habitat,” he explained.

Space Congress to convene in Cape Canaveral
Florida Today (5/20): The three day 44th Space Congress convenes in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Tuesday. “We thought it was the right time to bring relevant panels together that would be inspirational talking about what’s going on in regards to space and their impact to the Space Coast,” says Larry Ostarly, who will preside.

Space Science

NASA announces launch date for history making OSIRIS-REx spacecraft
Inverse (5/20): NASA’s OSIRIS-REx planetary science mission will journey to the asteroid Bennu for a lengthy reconnaissance and to gather a small sample for return to Earth. The launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., is set for Oct. 8. The spacecraft and its sample will return to Earth in 2023 with a parachute landing in Utah.

Jupiter’s moon lo formed under unique processes, new study suggests
America Space (5/22): Impressive mountains distinguish Io, the moon of Jupiter. Theorists point to massive volcanism as their genesis rather than tectonics, as on Earth.

Found: First-ever evidence of comets beyond the solar system orbiting a sun-like star
Los Angeles Times (5/20): An international team of astronomers has discovered evidence of comets circling a sun-like star 160 light years from the Earth. The findings were made using the European Space Observatory’s ALMA radio telescope.

Low Earth Orbit

China reveals design for planned Tiangong 3 space station
Spaceflight Insider (5/22): China intends to assemble a space station, Tiangong 3, between 2018 and 2022. Much smaller than the International Space Station, the outpost will include core and science modules as well as accommodations for a space telescope. Docking ports for crew and cargo deliveries will be included.

Public space: Shuttle tank delights big crowds during its ride through Los Angeles
Los Angeles Times (5/21): ET-94, a built to fly but unused space shuttle external fuel tank, rolled through the streets of Los Angeles on Saturday to the California Science Center. There it will join the retired NASA shuttle orbital Endeavour as part of a vertical display open to the public. The ET started its journey in New Orleans and cleared the Panama Canal by barge on its way to California.

Commercial to Low Earth Orbit

India’s very own space shuttle launched successfully by Isro
Hindustan Times, of India (5/23): The Indian Space Research Organization announced early Monday the successful test launch of a scaled reusable winged launch vehicle prototype from Sriharikota. After reaching low Earth orbit, the test vehicle was to land in the Bay of Bengal. The fully developed version for the launching of satellites is to return to a runway landing.

Suborbital

‘Space wrench’ goes where no man has gone before
Washington Post (5/21): At Virgin Galactic, Tee Vong is an indispensable part of preparing the WhiteKnightTwo for its role in commercial suborbital space flight.

Major Space Related Activities for the Week

Major space related activities for the week of May 23-27, 2016
Spacepolicyonline.com (5/22): In Washington, U.S. House and Senate panels will continue the 2017 appropriations process for military as well as civilian space activities this week. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station are scheduled to extend the Bigelow Expandable Activities Module (BEAM) outside the International Space Station early Thursday. The experimental BEAM was delivered to the space station in April. Once extended, the module will undergo two years of evaluation as a potential deep space habitat for astronauts in Earth orbit or on deep space missions.