In Today’s Deep Space Extra… Commercial interests emerging as a force in future human space activities.
Human Space Exploration
As innovators shoot for the moon, how will we regulate commerce?
The Hill (7/19): A modern day version of the U.S. Homestead Act of 1862 might well serve as a model for encouraging private sector activities in space. The act granted settlers 160 acres of public land if they agreed to remain there for five years. The measure helped to settle the western U. S., writes Mark Whittington in an op-ed that looks to future commercial space regulatory policy.
Future of the International Space Station may depend on commercial investors
R and D Magazine (7/20): The fate of the International Space Station beyond 2024 and plans in general for future activities in low Earth may rest with investors seeking new business opportunities, according to participants in a panel discussion this week at the International Space Station Research and Development Conference in Washington. Staffed continuously by astronauts since late 2000, the space station’s government authorizations expire in 2024.
After 340 days in space, Russian sees man on Mars
Times of India (7/21): The challenges of reaching Mars with humans will require international cooperation, Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko told an audience gathered this week for the first Festival of Science organized by Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corp. Kornienko joined NASA astronaut Scott Kelly aboard the International Space Station for a 340 day mission in 2015-16. Both men served as subjects in medical and psychological experiments focused on the health challenges of long duration spaceflight.
Space Science
ISS will carry artificial organs in hope of medical breakthrough
End Gadget (7/21): The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) is joining with the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) to support a new four year research effort aboard the International Space Station into the effects of low gravity on specific human organ tissues. Five “organs-on-chip” experiments will feature transparent, AA battery sized enclosures filled with tissue cells and channels that simulate fluid and air flow. The work will focus on immune system, bone, cartilage, cellular aging, kidney and brain investigations that would have terrestrial benefits as well. The hardware will support 3D tissue growth that can be achieved in zero-gravity onboard the ISS without the use of animals as research subjects.
Made in Space begins 3-D printing PEI/PC on the ISS
Engineering.com (7/14): Coalition Member in the News – Made In Space, the commercial provider of the Additive Manufacturing Facility, or 3-D printer, housed in the U.S. segment of the International Space Station has started production with a high strength aerospace material that could meet a range of demanding space flight requirements. Archinaut is one such project, a satellite robot with both internal 3-D printing hardware and external robotic arms. Archinaut could be used to produce and assemble large spacecraft components, such as struts and antennas that would have to otherwise be launched fully assembled and packaged.
Parades, parties and port-a-potties: Eclipse mania is taking hold from coast to coast
Los Angeles (7/20): On Aug. 21 much of the U.S. will witness a rare total solar eclipse as the moon moves in front of the sun from the Earth’s perspective, casting a shadow along a swath reaching from Oregon to South Carolina. Amateur astronomers and space enthusiasts are lining up to find the best and if possible out of the way viewing spots for the daytime event.
Earth’s tectonic activity may be crucial for life–and rare in our galaxy
Scientific American (7/20): Plate tectonics, a shifting of the Earth’s crust and mantle, may be keys to the rise of life on Earth, according to a research effort led by Arizona State University’s Cayman Unterborn.
Other News
Houston, we have a Kickstarter: Campaign launches to restore Mission Control
Collectspace.com (7/20): Space Center Houston, the nonprofit that serves as the official visitor’s center for NASA’s Johnson Space Center, on Thursday initiated a 30-day Kickstarter campaign to raise $250,000 in matching funds toward a $5 million restoration of the Mission Control room that supported the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing. Thursday marked the 48th anniversary of the historic landing that enabled Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to become the first humans to walk the surface of another planetary body. The Houston suburb of Webster, home to many who work for NASA and its contractors, donated $3.5 million toward the restoration earlier this year.
Russian cargo craft departs Space Station for ‘burn up’ on re-entry
TASS of Russia (7/21): A Russian Progress re-supply capsule, launched to the International Space Station in late February, departed the orbital lab Thursday filled with trash for a fiery re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. The next Progress cargo launch is planned for mid-October.