In Today’s Deep Space Extra… Before it launches again with cosmonauts and astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), Russia’s venerable Soyuz crew transport is to carry out a series of uncrewed missions, according to a top Russian spaceflight official. A Soyuz FG rocket with NASA’s Nick Hague and cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin aborted safely two minutes after liftoff on October 11. Scientists this week discussed landing site options for NASA’s Mars 2020 rover mission, which is to collect samples of soil and rock for eventual return to Earth.
Human Space Exploration
After Soyuz abort, Russia wants 3 successful robotic flights before next crew launch
Space.com (10/18): Russia’s recovery strategy from the October 11 Soyuz crew launch abort calls for three uncrewed missions before cosmonauts and astronauts are again assigned and launched to the International Space Station (ISS). The uncrewed missions are to follow an investigation into the cause of the safe abort with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin and a remedy. Sergei Kirkalev, the head of human spaceflight for Roscosmos, the Russian space agency.
Space Science
Scientists home in on landing site for the next Mars rover
Science.org (!0/18): In a close vote, planetary scientists gathered in Glendale, California, to evaluate four potential landing sites for NASA’s next Mars rover, Mars 2020, appeared to favor Jezero and Northeast Syrtis, sites in the northern hemisphere, for their potential to reveal whether the Red Planet once hosted some form of life. The rover’s launch is planned for mid-2020, setting up a landing in February 2021. The rover is to study the Martian environment as its lengthy mission unfolds and gather samples of soil and rock for eventual return to Earth. NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) and possibly commercial participants are to team for a second mission to return the samples to Earth.
Moon science! NASA needs experiment ideas for commercial lunar landers
Space.com (10/18): NASA on Thursday asked for commercial launch proposals to support science activities on the lunar surface. The call is a precursor to a buildup of commercial lunar landing capabilities intended to eventually support a human return to the Moon’s surface. Science missions to the lunar surface could be underway as soon as 2019.
Europe, Japan ready spacecraft for 7-year journey to Mercury
Associated Press via New York Times (10/18): The European and Japanese space agencies have partnered for a planetary science mission to planet Mercury. The spacecraft, BepiColumbo, is to launch atop an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana on Friday night. The probe is to reach Mercury in 2025 and deploy two spacecraft to explore the small planet’s surface and magnetic field.
Look up! The Orionid meteor shower peaks this weekend
USA Today (10/18): The annual Orionid meteor shower peaks this weekend, with prime viewing anticipated for early Sunday between the setting of the Moon and sunrise. Comet Halley is the source of the meteor material.
Other News
NASA contracts with Astrobotic to develop software for icy moon landings
Coalition Member in the News – Astrobotic
Spacefllightinsider.com (10/18): NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory will work under contract with Astrobotic to develop navigation systems for landings on the solar system’s icy moons, which may harbor subsurface microbial life.
City Council approves $18.8 million for streets, utilities at Houston Spaceport
Houston Chronicle (10/17): In Houston, the City Council this week authorized a near $19 million upgrade to streets and other utilities for the city’s horizontal, or runway only, spaceport at Ellington Airport near NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC). Officials are hoping the investment will help to attract a cluster of aerospace companies that can invent, develop and manufacture space technologies.
China’s space program is coming for Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos
Bloomberg News (10/17): China could pose a challenge to U.S. commercial sector efforts to lower the cost of launch services. Chinese president President Xi Jinping has loosened the government’s monopoly on space launches, and that’s fueling the formation of small domestic companies with ambitions to challenge Musk’s SpaceX, Bezos’ Blue Origin, and Branson’s Virgin Galactic. China will invest $8 billion in the domestic commercial effort.