In Today’s Deep Space Extra… President Trump’s chat with record-setting NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson aboard the International Space Station raises the possibility of accelerating a human Mars mission.

Human Deep Space Exploration

Trump calls Space Station as astronaut Peggy Whitson sets record

CBS News (4/24): President Trump, who called International Space Station commander Peggy Whitson, on Monday to congratulate her on her contributions to human space exploration, raised the prospect of launching human explorers to Mars sooner than NASA’s 2033 planning date.

International and commercial interest in the Moon

The Space Review (4/24): From across the globe, national space agencies, new and long established, feel the lure of the moon. In some cases the draw is the lunar surface for science or commerce. For the U.S. it seems to be lunar orbit at the moment and a Deep Space Gateway that could serve as a space rather than surface-based proving ground for the human exploration of Mars. President Trump has yet to specify which. Europe, Russia and China are among those countries that appear drawn to the lunar surface as their next destinations in space, according to presentations made earlier this month before 33rd Space Symposium in Colorado Springs.

 

Space Science

NASA and ESA join forces to build life-seeking Europa lander

New Scientist (4/24): In Europe, scientists propose a collaboration with NASA on a planetary science mission to Europa, the ice and ocean covered moon of Jupiter.  Anticipating a possible habitable environment, the spacecraft would attempt to find direct evidence of microbial activity. The partnership was proposed at a meeting of the European Geosciences Union.

Researchers probe viability of amino acids in alien environments

Seeker.com (4/25): Scientists are prepared to study whether amino acids, the ingredients of proteins that form the building blocks of life on Earth, can survive the harsh environmental conditions of other planetary bodies. “Finding trends in amino acid stability would give us an idea of what sort of amino acids may have survived in outer space long enough to create life,” explains one researcher at Valparaiso University in Indiana.

Cassini sails by Saturn’s moon Titan for last time

Spaceflightnow.com (4/24): Cassini, the U.S. and European spacecraft that has been orbiting Saturn since 2004, made its final close fly-by of the moon Titan over the weekend. Titan’s gravity altered Cassini’s orbital trajectory enough to set up multiple unprecedented passes between Saturn and the giant planet’s famed ring system before the long mission comes to an end in September.

Our discovery of a minor planet beyond Neptune shows there may not be ‘Planet Nine’ after all

Space.com (4/24): Is there a Planet Nine? Perhaps not. One astronomy team suggests that a distant and icy minor planet, 2013SY99, may be responsible for recent observations that suggest that a large but unseen planet orbits the sun beyond Neptune.

Mysteries of crown-like structures on Venus’ surface unveiled in new study

Space.com (4/24): Heat rising from the rocky core of Venus may be responsible for unusual circular features on the planet’s surface, according to a European-led research effort published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

 

Low Earth Orbit

Astronaut Peggy Whitson breaks NASA record for most days in space

National Public Radio (4/24): Veteran U.S. astronaut Peggy Whitson broke the record of 534 days for most career time spent in space by a U.S. astronaut early Monday. Whitson, who launched to the Station in late November, is not scheduled to return to Earth until September.

Several more cosmonauts set to quit Russian space team source

TASS of Russia (4/24): Roscosmos, the Russian federal space agency, looks to the departures of several veteran cosmonauts, some linked to health issues.