In Today’s Deep Space Extra… The so far only flown version of the NASA/Lockheed Martin Orion crew capsule graced the White House lawn on Monday as part of the “Made in America” showcase. NASA faces a funding challenge and it completes launch preparations for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
Human Space Exploration
Orion capsule turns heads on White House lawn (photos)
Coalition Members in the News – Lockheed Martin
Space.com (7/23): The flown NASA/Lockheed Martin Orion space capsule was a feature of the White House “Made in America” showcase display on Monday. The spacecraft is special in that it’s the only Orion to have flown thus far, launching on December 5, 2014 for an Earth orbital shakedown mission to assess the heat shield and other systems. Equipped for four astronauts, Orion is being readied for an uncrewed test flight around the Moon and back to Earth by mid-2020. More than 16,000 suppliers from 50 states contribute to Orion and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket that is to start Orion astronauts on future missions of deep space exploration.
Powering the first element of the Gateway
Coalition Members in the News – Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems, Boeing
The Space Review (7/23): The first element in the assembly of a NASA led, human tended Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway (LOP-G) is the Power and Propulsion Element featuring solar electric propulsion. If the strategy works, the LOP-G will provide human explorers with access to the Moon’s surface for the first time since the end of the Apollo-era and serve as a departure and return port for human missions to Mars. With its versatility, the concept has engaged U.S. aerospace companies, who’ve submitted proposals for the essential PPE module through NASA’s Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships, or NextSTEP initiative.
Space Science
NASA faces funding challenge for JWST in future years
Coalition Member in the News – Northrop Grumman
SpaceNews.com (7/24): During a meeting of NASA’s Astrophysics Advisory Committee on Monday, agency managers discussed the financial challenges they face with the delay in the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) announced earlier this year. The observatory’s launch has been rescheduled for March 2021 due to a succession of recent setbacks in pre-launch testing stretching 29 months and raising the overall development cost by $800 million. The cost consequence, which is anticipated during the 2020-21 fiscal years, could impact other NASA initiatives.
Mars makes closest approach to Earth in 15 years this weekend: Here’s how to see it
Arizona Republic (7/23): Mars and the Earth will be at their closest in 15 years this weekend, 36 million miles apart. Mars can be seen to the southeast as a bright and reddish object after sunset and moving in the sky toward the southwest as the night progresses. On Friday, Mars and the Moon will be especially close.
Europa lander may not have to dig deep to find signs of life
Space.com (7/23): Jupiter’s ice and ocean covered moon Europa continues to spark interest as a possible habitable environment. NASA plans to send a multiple flyby mission in the 2020s called Europa Clipper, and there is talk of a more complex and expensive follow on lander mission. A new study suggests a lander may have only to scratch the surface at a favorable location to find what scientists are looking for — evidence of an astrobiology.
The Milky Way had a big sibling long ago and Andromeda ate it
Space.com (7/23): New computer modeling suggests the Milky Way Galaxy had a sibling star system. However, it was devoured by yet another neighboring system of stars, the Andromeda galaxy, about two billion years ago, according to a study led by a University of Michigan researcher.
Other News
More startups are pursuing cubesats with electric thrusters
Space News (7/23): Electric propulsion systems promise the growing enthusiasm for small satellite missions in low Earth orbit a valued means of mobility to accomplish mission goals and to aide in their deorbit at the end of life, without the need for bulky propellant tanks. There may be other alternatives to conventional propulsion in the works as well.
Apollo 50th preparations: It will be a heck of an event for the Space Coast
Florida Today (7/23): Florida’s Space Coast is preparing for a major celebration lasting several days in July 2019 as the U.S. marks the Golden Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, the first time human explorers from the Earth set foot on another planetary body. A five day celebration with a parade, fireworks and more will begin July 16, 2019, which marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11 with Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, and continue through July 20, which will mark the 50th anniversary of the Eagle lunar module landing on the Moon’s Sea of Tranquility.