In Today’s Deep Space Extra… A ground test of the powerful crew escape system for NASA’s Orion spacecraft is planned for Thursday in Utah.
Human Space Exploration
Orbital ATK poised to test Orion Launch Abort Motor
SpaceFightInsider.com (6/14): In Promontory, Utah on Thursday, Orbital ATK and Lockheed Martin plan a crucial, ground-based test firing of the Launch Abort System motor under development for NASA’s Orion crew exploration capsule. The QM-1 firing in Promontory, Utah is one of three planned to qualify the propulsion device that could save the lives of astronauts assigned to missions launched aboard the Space Launch System if something went wrong during the climb to orbit. The first joint test flight of an Orion and SLS without astronauts aboard is planned for 2019.
Op-ed | Mars mania is completely rational
Space News (6/14): Assessments by the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine suggest NASA’s plans to explore Mars with humans are supported by aspirational as well as pragmatic justifications. Those include the search for extraterrestrial life as well as spin off technologies, according to an op-ed.
Space Science
China focus: China launches space telescope to search for black holes, pulsars
Xinhuanet of China (6/15): China on Thursday launched the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope, or Insight, an orbiting X-ray observatory designed to study black hole evolution, neutron stars and pulsars. A Long March 4-B rocket, lofted from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, placed the observatory into a 342 mile high orbit.
Sun likely has a long-lost twin
Space.com (6/14): Most sun like stars likely have a twin, perhaps unseen, that can influence planets around the other star, according to a study led by a University of California, Berkley researcher.
Other News
Russia to orbit over 70 small satellites for first time
TASS of Russia (6/14): On July 14, a Russian Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle is scheduled to place more than 70 small sats and a larger satellite into multiple orbits for the Kanopus-V-IK mission. The U.S. is among multiple international customers.
Is the Earth-observation industry consolidating, or just evolving?
Space News (6/14): Recent acquisitions involving Terra Bella, Digital Globe and OmniEarth suggest that the business of observing the Earth with satellites and distributing the data has begun to evolve through acquisitions.