In Today’s Deep Space Extra… Recent White House, NASA moves hold new promise for human deep space exploration — if they are matched with sufficient future resources and new efficiencies.
Human Space Exploration
Trump administration is making America a leader in space again
The Hill (7/19): Early moves by the Trump White House, including budgets and a re-established National Space Council, offer encouragement for future human deep space exploration as well as a growing presence in low Earth orbit, writes Doug Cooke, an aerospace consultant and Coalition for Deep Space Exploration board member. However, as program plans mature, budgets must increase to meet objectives. NASA must also strive for new organizational efficiencies while continuing to meet demanding technical requirements and maintaining basic safety, Cooke adds in an op-ed.
NASA seeks information on developing Deep Space Gateway module
Space News (7/20): This week NASA asked industry to submit proposals for a power and propulsion module for a Deep Space Gateway, a future human tended habitat in orbit around the moon. The module would supply electrical power as well as solar electric and hydrazine thrusters for a habitat also equipped with docking ports as part of the DSG. Proposals are due by the end of the month and just before a NASA Broad Area Announcement in August seeking additional power and propulsion module development details. Though not formally part of NASA’s 2018 budget request, the DSG is a focus of the agency’s future human deep space exploration planning. The power and propulsion module would launch in 2022 on a Space Launch System rocket. Gateway docking ports would accommodate Orion capsules with astronauts on missions supporting future human deep space activities.
Elon Musk suggests SpaceX is scrapping its plans to land Dragon capsules on Mars
The Verge (7/19): Elon Musk suggested that SpaceX will abandon its plans to land the company’s Dragon capsule on Mars — a mission the company had been aiming to do as early as 2020. SpaceX will not fully develop the landing technique it was going to use to land the Dragon on Mars. Known as the Red Dragon mission, the capsule was meant to lower itself to solid ground using engines embedded in its hull, and then touch down gently on landing legs in a method known as propulsive landing.
DailyMail.com (7/18): Scientists aboard the International Space Station are growing crystals of a human enzyme said to be critical in the body’s response to deadly nerve agents such as sarin and VX. Microgravity conditions allow the researchers to produce crystals much larger than could be achieved on Earth, and it’s hoped that the technique could help to unlock the key to developing better antidotes.
‘AstroKate,’ the first to perform DNA sequencing in space, speaks at ISS Conference
RDMag.com (7/19): NASA astronaut Kate Rubins recapped her 150 days in space during the second day of the International Space Station (ISS) R&D 2017 Conference. Rubins, the first person to sequence DNA on the ISS by culturing beating heart cells, took part in the session on July 18 at the annual conference held in Washington D.C. DNA sequencing identifies an organism’s blueprint—the process used to determine the precise order of the four chemical building blocks in a single DNA strand. Scientists use it to advance research, including identifying the genes responsible for certain genetic diseases through the blueprints.
Russia develops new scheme of manned flight to Moon
TASS of Russia (7/19): Russia’s Energiya Rocket and Space Corp unveiled a new human lunar exploration strategy on Wednesday. The planning involves two heavy lift and one medium lift rocket launch. Components of the lunar exploration spacecraft would be assembled in low Earth orbit. Cosmonauts would launch in the new Federatsiya spacecraft.
Space Science
NASA’s Neutron-Star Mission begins science operations on the ISS
Daily Galaxy (7/18): NASA’s new Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) mission to study the densest observable objects in the universe has begun science operations. Launched June 3 on an 18-month mission, NICER will help scientists understand the nature of the densest stable form of matter located deep in the cores of neutron stars using X-ray measurements.
Penn student design to reach new heights in space aboard the ISS
Penn News (7/14): In response to a call to “Print the Future,” three Penn undergraduates won the opportunity to have their design 3-D printed aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Rising seniors Jaimie Carlson, Laura Gao, and Adam Zachar formed ProtoFluidics to create an adaptable, modular microfluidic device. The team hopes that, once printed using the 3-D printer already on the ISS, astronauts will be able to use their design to perform specialized research using tiny amounts of fluids in space.
Meet the International Space Station’s adorable camera drone
Endgaget.com (7/17): Astronauts on board the International Space Station have a new robotic companion to play around with. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has released the first images shot by the “Int-Ball,” a spherical camera that floats around alongside the rest of the crew. With its monochrome paint job and blue, circular eyes, it looks a little like Wall-E’s Eve — or at least her head, in some kind of prototype form. Notably, the Int-Ball can move around autonomously or be controlled by operators back on Earth.
Bad news for life: TRAPPIST-1 planets’ atmospheres may have been destroyed
Space News (7/19): Prospects for life among the seven Trappist 1 planets appears to have dimmed because of radiation levels within the system, according to findings from two research efforts. The planetary system, whose discovery was announced early this year, includes three planets in the star’s habitable zone. Trappist 1 lies 39 light years from Earth. The latest research was carried out by the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the University of Massachusetts.
A huge asteroid hitting Mars 4 billion years ago may have shaped the Red Planet
Seeker (7/19): A new study proposes that the Martian terrain and two moons, Phobos and Deimos, were shaped by an impact from a large asteroid with the red planet early in the solar system’s history. The study, carried out by researchers at the University of Colorado, was published in journal Geophysical Research Letters.
Other News
ESA to develop navigation system and drilling rig for Russia’s lunar mission
TASS of Russia (7/19): The European Space Agency will contribute precision landing systems and drilling hardware to Russia’s future Luna 27 moon mission. Details of the collaboration were discussed at the MAKS-2017 international airshow.
ULA to launch SNC’s Dream Chaser for NASA resupply flights
Denver Business Journal (7/19): Sierra Nevada announced selection of the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket for the first missions of the Colorado company’s new Dream Chaser, a winged reusable vehicle for transporting cargoes to and from the International Space Station. The Dream Chaser’s first launch is planned for 2020.
SpaceX chief says 1st launch of big new rocket will be risky
Associated Press via ABC News (7/20): SpaceX CEO Elon Musk cautioned space enthusiasts Wednesday the inaugural launch of the company’s Falcon Heavy rocket from Florida later this year carries significant risk. “There’s a lot of risk associated with Falcon Heavy, real good chance that that vehicle does not make it to orbit,” he cautioned in remarks before an International Space Station research conference in Washington. The big rocket figures in SpaceX’s Mars mission plans.
Cleanup time: Russia launches satellite to remove space junk from orbit
Sputnik International of Russia (7/19): Students from Moscow State University provided a prototype orbital debris removal satellite launched aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket last Friday. Mayak, one of 73 payloads lofted by the Russian rocket, will also reflect light brightly as it circles the Earth.