In Today’s Deep Space Extra… With Thanksgiving 2018 now in the rear-view mirror, there is lots of suspense at NASA’s Mars Insight lander attempt to touchdown on Mars on Monday afternoon. NASA’s Commercial Crew Program has set January for its first uncrewed test flight to the International Space Station (ISS).

Human Space Exploration

NASA to launch safety review of SpaceX and Boeing after video of Elon Musk smoking pot rankled agency leaders

Coalition Member in the News – Boeing

Washington Post (11/20): NASA plans assessments of the safety cultures of the two U.S. companies partnered with the agency’s Commercial Crew Program, the initiative intended to commercially transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS). The review was prompted by a recent controversial podcast featuring SpaceX founder Elon Musk. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine told the Post his agency wishes to ensure public confidence in its human-spaceflight program, especially as the companies are getting closer to their first flights.

First SpaceX Crew Dragon test flight set for January

Coalition Member in the News – Boeing

SpaceNews.com (11/21): NASA and SpaceX have set January 7 for the uncrewed test launch and mission of the company’s Crew Dragon capsule. The spacecraft is to launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on a Falcon 9, Block 5 rocket. The Demo-1 mission will head for the International Space Station (ISS), and if successful the test flight will be repeated as Demo-2 in June with two NASA astronauts. Boeing’s CST-100 is to launch on its uncrewed test flight atop an Atlas 5 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, in March, followed by an August test flight with three astronauts. The Boeing and SpaceX missions are to lead to certifications and regularly scheduled crewed launches to the Space Station, something the U.S. has been unable to do since the shuttle fleet was retired in 2011.

Europe’s vision of a future Moon base. Made out of Moon dust

Universe Today (11/23): The European Space Agency (ESA) has embraced Additive Manufacturing, or 3-D printing, and In Situ Resource Utilization as strategies for establishing a Moon base without massive launch costs. Lunar soil could be a feed stock.

NASA, Kennedy Space Center (KSC) seek new champion after Bill Nelson’s loss

Florida Today (11/21): U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, first as a Florida congressman and since 2000 as a member of the Senate, has been a key legislator in bi-partisan efforts to further NASA’s mission. However, he was defeated by a thin margin by Florida Governor Rick Scott in the November mid-term elections. “He’s been a terrific champion not only for Kennedy Space Center (KSC) but the space enterprise across the board,” Jeff Bingham, a former director of the Senate’s Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee’s space staff, told Florida Today. Nelson was the panel’s ranking Democrat. When NASA’s Constellation back to the Moon initiative was cancelled in 2010, Nelson helped to engineer a bipartisan effort to continue work on what are now the Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion crew capsule for future human deep space exploration.

 

Science News

“NASA’s Insight lander is scheduled to arrive at Mars around 3:00 pm ET today. Viewing opportunities online and in person are listed below. In addition we will be live-tweeting the event – follow the Coalition at @xploredeepspace on Twitter or directly with NASA @NASAInsight. You can also follow Insight manufacturer and Coalition member @LockheedMartin for updates. At last report (last evening), Insight was on time and on target for today’s landing.

Updated viewing opportunities: https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/timeline/landing/watch-in-person/

Look out Mars, here comes InSight

Coalition Member in the News – Lockheed Martin

NPR (11/25): Mars gets a new visitor from Earth on Monday. If all goes well, a NASA probe named InSight will land near the Martian equator shortly before 3 p.m. ET. Once it lands on Mars, it will stay put. InSight isn’t a rover. Its mission is to stick to one place after it lands — and study the interior of Mars from the planet’s surface.

NASA’s InSight lander will look inside Mars like never before. Here’s why

Coalition Member in the News – Lockheed Martin

Space.com (11/22): On Monday, Mars fans around the globe will watch eagerly to see NASA land a new mission called InSight on the Red Planet — but for the scientists who built the mission, the real excitement will just be getting started. That’s because the $850 million InSight mission has an ambitious slate of scientific tasks to accomplish during its time at work on the surface, which is planned to last about two years. While plenty of orbiters, landers and rovers have sought to understand Mars’ surface and atmosphere, InSight — or more formally Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport — will be the first to turn its gaze inward.

Anxiety abounds at NASA as Mars landing day arrives

Coalition Member in the News – Lockheed Martin

Associated Press via ABC News (11/26): Scientists and a NASA flight control team gathered at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) admit they will be filled with anxiety as the InSight lander begins its plunge into the Martian atmosphere, a parachute deployment and finally the firing of a rocket engine to bring the spacecraft to a landing Monday afternoon.

How to land on Mars

New York Times (11/25): Interactive look at how InSight will land on Mars along with facts and figures from the mission.

Big test coming up for tiny satellites trailing Mars lander

AP via Physics.org (11/22): Two small satellites, WALL-E and EVE, are closely trailing NASA Mars Insight Lander as it prepares to land on Mars on Monday a bit before 3 p.m., EST.  The small satellites are to relay details of the dramatic descent to the Red Planet.

Here’s where China is looking to land its 2020 Mars rover

Planetary Society (11/17): China is looking to early 2021 for its first attempt to land a robotic mission on another planet, Mars. Two landing sites are under consideration, Chryse Planitia and Isidis Planitia, for a mission that includes an orbiter as well as a rover. Mars will be busy place, as NASA’s Mars 2020 rover will be launching in mid-2020 and landing in February 2021. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is launching a Mars mission as well, the Hope Mars Mission, and so are the European and Russian space agencies under a partnership, Exo Mars.

 

Other News

New committee brings industry viewpoint to NAS, seeks changes to planetary protection guidelines

Spacepolicyonline.com (11/23): Newly assembled, the Regulatory and Policy Committee of the NASA Advisory Council (NAC), whose members are largely from industry, examined their space policy role during a recent first meeting. Topics of interest included possible advertising rights offered by the space agency as well as planetary protection practices for NASA’s private sector partners.

Russian aviation institute to team up with China in research of Mars landing craft

TASS of Russia (11/21): In a recent agreement, the Russian Central Aero-Hydrodynamic Institute and China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics announced they will cooperate on a Mars lander mission.

 

Major Space Related Activities for the Week

Major space related activities for the week of November 25 to December 1, 2018

Coalition Member in the News – Lockheed Martin

Spacepolicyonline.com (11/25): NASA’s Mars Insight mission lander is on course to attempt a landing on the red planet Monday about 3 p.m., EST. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) managed mission and Lockheed Martin spacecraft are to conduct ground breaking studies of the Martian interior. The U.S. House and Senate return to Washington, with a December 7 expiration date for agencies of the U.S. government without a 2019 fiscal year budget but a budget continuing resolution. NASA and NOAA are among agencies facing the deadline and a possible shutdown if the resolution is not extended.