In Today’s Deep Space Extra… Flexibility in planning will enable NASA to launch human explorers into the solar system, with Mars as the first stop.

Human Deep Space Exploration

Path to Mars Should Be Flexible, Experts Agree

Space.com (9/22): In remarks before a recent AIAA gathering in Long Beach, Calif., Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA’s associate administrator for Human Exploration and Operations, and others involved in the planning, called for flexibility in the space agency’s efforts to reach the Martian environs with humans. The flexibility will enable them to best deal with health risks, establish the best propulsion strategies and overcome other obstacles, said Gerstenmaier and others involved in a panel discussion.

Orion heat shield arrives at Kennedy Space Center

Spaceflight Insider (9/23): Components of the heat shield for the late 2018 test flight of NASA’s Orion crew exploration capsule have reached NASA’s Kennedy Space Center launch site for integration. The shielding responds to findings from the first uncrewed test flight of Orion in December 2014. The upcoming uncrewed test flight, Exploration Mission-1, will send Orion around the moon and back to Earth for a Pacific Ocean recovery. Orion is under development to start U.S. explorers on future deep space missions.

Space Science

James Webb telescope to see first stars and galaxies

Florida Today (9/22): The James Webb Space Telescope, designated to succeed the Hubble Space Telescope, remains on schedule for an October 2018 launch, a key figure in the development of the observatory said Thursday during a visit to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. James Mather of the Goddard Space Flight Center said the complex optics of the once-troubled $9-billion observatory should be able to reveal details about the universe’s earliest epoch.

Music for Aliens: Campaign Aims to Reissue Carl Sagan’s Golden Record

New York Times (9/21): The famous American astronomer Carl Sagan’s “sounds of Earth” have long been out of eye and ear shot of Earthlings. Two recordings of expressions from cultures believed to represent the diversity of Earth launched in 1977 aboard NASA’s Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft and are now moving beyond the influences of the solar system. Efforts are now underway to re-release the sound tracks that few have been able to listen to.

Marsquakes Could Potentially Support Red Planet Life

Space.com (9/22): Tremors on Mars, like those on the Earth known as Earthquakes, may unleash hydrogen in levels needed to support microbial life, according to experts.

NASA is investigating the microbes aboard ISS

Popular Science (9/22): NASA is calling upon qualified scientists to propose investigations of microbial populations discovered living aboard the six person International Space Station.

Low Earth Orbit

Soyuz MS-02 launch to ISS postponed due to burnt cable source

TASS, of Russia (9/22): A charred cable on Russia’s Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft is responsible for a launch delay that prevented three U.S. and Russian astronauts from lifting off Friday for the International Space Station. If the cable can be replaced, Russia’s Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft with NASA’s Shane Kimbrough and cosmonauts Sergei Ryzhikov and Andrei Borisenko could lift off after Oct. 19 repairs.

Astronaut From Texas Will Vote From Space If Homecoming Delayed

Associated Press (9/23): NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, initially scheduled to descend to Earth after nearly six months aboard the six-person International Space Station in late October, may have to wait beyond the Nov. 8 date for U.S. elections before returning to Earth. Her scheduled Oct. 30 descent with Japanese astronaut Takyua Onishi and Russian cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin has been delayed by a technical problem with the Russian spacecraft that is to launch their replacements.

U.S., China will meet this year to talk space debris 

Space News (9/22): Representatives of the U.S. and China will meet later this year on space matters. The exchange is likely to include talks on dealing with a growing threat posed by man-made space debris, according to Frank Rose, the assistant secretary of State for arms control, verification and compliance.

Commercial to Low Earth Orbit

Smaller variants of Russia’s Proton rocket on the market

Spaceflightnow.com (9/23): Russia’s venerable Proton launch vehicle will be scaled back to lower propulsive versions to serve commercial markets, according to International Launch Services and Khrunichev, the primary marketer and manufacturer of the launch vehicle.

Suborbital

Spaceport gets new CEO

Albuquerque Journal News (9/22): White Sands Missile Range director of planning Dan Hicks has been selected as the new CEO for Spaceport America. Hicks replaces Christine Anderson.