White House, NASA to present and discuss 2018 budget plans on Tuesday.
Human Deep Space Exploration
NASA planning afternoon of events for FY2018 budget request rollout
Spacepolicyonline.com (5/23): Details of the Trump Administration’s proposed 2018 budget for NASA are expected to emerge today. NASA Acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot addresses employees on the spending plan at 12:30 p.m., EDT. A March blueprint put the 2018 total for the space agency at $19.05 billion, less than the 2017 appropriations omnibus of $19.65 billion enacted earlier this month. The 2018 fiscal year begins October 1.
Putin sets task of accelerating work on super-heavy rocket
TASS, of Russia (5/22): Russian President Vladimir Putin has directed Roscosmos, the Russian federal space agency, to accelerate work on a super heavy lift rocket, a $23 billion initiative for deep space pursuits.
Space Science
Moon Express chairman believes his team’s “ready to go for the end of this year”
Ars Technica (5/21): Moon Express co-founder and Chairman Naveen Jain expresses confidence his company is prepared to become the first U.S. commercial enterprise to reach the lunar surface as part of the Google Lunar X-Prize competition. The first competitor to land, rove 500 meters and transmit high definition video back to Earth by the end of this year wins $20 million.
Diving deep into the world of emergent gravity
Ars Technica (5/22): Could it be that there is no dark matter? The University of Amsterdam’s Erik Verlinde favors an alternate explanation, dark energy.
Low Earth Orbit
Hurriedly planned `contingency’ spacewalk on tap Tuesday
Spaceflightnow.com (5/22): Expected to get underway Tuesday by 8 a.m., EDT, a three-hour spacewalk by NASA astronauts Peggy Whitson and Jack Fischer will replace a computer data relay box, called a Multiplexer Demultiplexer, on the outside of the International Space Station that failed for unknown reasons on Saturday. The spacewalk will be Whitson’s tenth, tying her for the most by a U.S. astronaut over a career.
Delta 4 replacement ready by 2023, top general says
Space News (5/22): The head of the U.S. Air Force Space Command has expressed confidence in testimony before Congress that the military will have a replacement for the United Launch Alliance Delta 4 launch vehicle by 2023. Candidates include Blue Origin’s New Glenn and SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy. The U.S. National Reconnaissance Office also relies on the Delta 4 for satellite launches.
Russia’s `Killer Satellites’ re-Awaken
Daily Beast (5/19): A family of Russian satellites, launched 2013-2015, has experts puzzled because of their dramatic maneuvers, movements that seem to take them close to other satellites for surveillance. After a prolonged stand down, it appears two of the satellites are on the move again, approaching a large piece of aging Chinese satellite debris.
Other News
After high-stakes court battle, Neil Armstrong’s storied lunar bag could fetch $4 million at auction
Washington Post (5/23): The lunar sample collection bag used by Apollo 11 Commander Neil Armstrong is headed for auction after a contentious past. Sotheby’s New York will manage the transaction.