In Today’s Deep Space Extra… A new study suggests Martian soil could be processed into building materials for human explorers.
Human Deep Space Exploration
If Mars is colonized, we may not need to ship in the bricks
New York Times (4//28): If Mars is settled by humans, the planet’s native soil appears to have properties that would make it possible to construct shelters, according to findings from a University of California, San Diego-led study published in the journal Scientific Reports. Using a simulant, the researchers discovered they could crush a Martian-like soil into bricks.
Space-mining may be only a decade away. Really.
Washington Post (4/28): Middle Eastern states are expressing interest in space mining, possibly the extraction of water and minerals from the moon and other planetary bodies, to fortify their economies. Shrinking launch costs appear an important part of making the enterprise possible.
Space Science
U.S. instrument team to fly camera on South Korean moon mission
Spaceflightnow.com (4/29): South Korea is planning the launch of a lunar orbiter at the end of next year. One of four foreign contributions is a camera built by Arizona State University and contributed through NASA, the space agency announced on Friday.
ESA’s JUICE spacecraft could detect water plumes erupting on Europa
Spaceflight Insider (4/30): The European Space Agency’s planned mission to Jupiter will attempt to confirm the presence of water erupting from the moon Europa, suggesting a possible habitable environment. The Jupiter Icy moons Explorer, or JUICE, mission is being prepared for a 2022 launch and a long journey to the brink of the outer solar system. Imagery from the Hubble Space Telescope suggests watery eruptions on Europa rise to altitudes greater than 100 miles. JUICE would carry out a pair of close flybys in 2031.
Skywatch: May evenings are all about Jupiter, followed by Venus
Washington Post (4/29): Sky watchers can look for Jupiter and Mars after sunset. Later comes Saturn. Venus appears bright before sunrise.
Low Earth Orbit
Live coverage: SpaceX counting down to another launch attempt Monday
Spaceflightnow.com (5/1): SpaceX counted down early Monday to the company’s first launch of a U.S. national security payload. The liftoff from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center was scheduled during a two hour window that opened at 7 a.m. EDT. The first launch attempt on Sunday was scrubbed in the final seconds by a sensor reading on the Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage.
Suborbital
Branson noncommittal about SpaceShipTwo flight schedule
Space News (4/28): “Space is tough,” declared Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Galactic, the suborbital space passenger company. Branson spoke April 28 in Washington. He withheld a prediction on when commercial passenger flights of SpaceShipTwo might be expected. “I’ve made the mistake of giving dates before and being wrong,” said Branson.
The Week Ahead
What’s Happening in Space Policy May 1-6, 2017
Spacepolicyonline.com (4/30): The U.S. federal government again faces the prospect of a shutdown on May 5 if the White House and Congress cannot reach agreement on a spending measure effective through the remainder of the 2017 fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. Last week produced a one week extension of a 2017 budget Continuing Resolution that was formulated prior to the November elections. In Washington, the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine hosts a series of sessions this week on space policy.