Today’s Deep Space Extra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. Presidential politics revive talk in the U.S. of a human lunar base. Underwater habitats prepare astronauts for low gravity, spacecraft confinement and isolation. NASA’s Asteroid sample return mission, OSIRIS-REx, transitions from spacecraft assembly to ground testing ahead of a planned September 2016 launching. The European Space Agency selects a landing site for its 2018 ExoMars mission, terrain with evidence of a watery past and potential biological activity. SETI astronomers to give oddly dimming star a listen. NASA shares its patent portfolio with prospective entrepreneurs to bolster the economy. Pleased with revenues, Europe’s Arianespace plans to stay competitive by cutting Ariane 5 launch costs. Space Florida grants Blue Origin rights to launch pad and land for a new manufacturing facility. Russian president Vladimir Putin eases up on the completion date for construction of the troubled Vostochny Cosmodrome, but pledges legal action for misdeeds.
Human Deep Space Exploration
How Newt Gingrich’s moon base became ‘pretty cool’
The Hill (10/21): Presidential politics have transitioned the idea of a commercially developed human lunar base, proposed by Republican candidate Newt Gingrich in 2012 but scorned, into something considered “pretty cool” by 2016 contender and fellow Republican Jeb Bush.
What underwater habitats are teaching us about spacecraft and exploration
Inverse (10/21): Underwater habitats like Aquarius are helping NASA with the design of future spacecraft while preparing astronauts for spaceflight. The buoyancy of the waters off Florida’s Atlantic coast, where Aquarius rests on the ocean floor, permit adjustments in the gravity levels. The tight quarters and isolation convey conditions aboard spacecraft.
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
OSIRIS-Rex transitions from assembly to environmental testing for 2016 launch to return asteroid samples
America Space (10/21): NASA’s bid to send OSIRIS-REx on an asteroid sample return mission has transitioned from the assembly to the ground test phase at contractor Lockheed Martin facilities near Denver. The spacecraft is scheduled for launching to the near Earth object Bennu, which poses a possible collision threat with the Earth in the late 22nd century. OSIRIS-REx will be prepped for launch in September 2016, rendezvous with the 500-meter-wide Bennu in September 2021 and return to Earth with up to four pounds of asteroid material two years later.
Europeans pick site for ExoMars 2018 rover
Science (10/21): The European Space Agency has selected Oxia Planum as the landing site for its 2018 ExoMars mission. The joint mission with Russia will seek evidence for past water at the site and possible biological activity using a drilling device. The lander would touchdown in 2019 and follow a preliminary ExoMars mission launched in 2016 that features an orbiter and a prototype lander called Schiaparelli.
The curious case of KIC 8462852
Sky and Telescope (10/20): Experts and amateurs are struggling to explain the irregular dimming of the star, KIC8462852, an object of scrutiny by NASA’s exo-planet hunting Kepler space telescope. Accumulations of dust or a nearby shattered comet don’t seem to explain the strange observations fully. Now astronomers are turning to a radio telescope to listen for evidence of alien intelligence and the possibility the strange dimming is caused by an artificial structure called a Dyson sphere assembled by an advanced civilization to harness energy from the star.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
NASA’s venture into open innovation could unlock the future
Forbes.com (10/21): Recently, NASA announced it was making the agency’s patent portfolio available to inventors and budding entrepreneurs, waiving initial patent licensing fees. And there are no minimum fees for the first three years for use of the agency’s technologies to develop new products and services.
With revenue looking up, Arianespace seeks to bring Ariane 5 costs down
Space News (10/21): Europe’s Ariancespace will aim for a 5-6 percent cost reduction in total Ariane 5 costs by 2017 to meet its U.S. competitors. The goal is made possible for a strong showing for the Ariane 5 in 2015 both in terms of missions and revenues as well as new orders.
Space Florida approves launch pad, land for Blue Origin
Florida Today (10/21): Space Florida on Wednesday granted Blue Origin the rights for use of a Cape Canaveral launch pad and the land needed for a new Central Florida rocket manufacturing facility.
Putin blasts mismanagement at new Russian spaceport
Spaceflightnow.com (10/20): During a mid-October visit to the construction site for Russia’s Vostochny Cosmodrome, president Vladimir Putin agreed to push back the completion date and inaugural launch until next spring. But he spoke out against the troubled performance of the contractors. Vostochny is to support launches currently conducted from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. “We know, sadly, that there are suspicions of criminal acts. I say ‘suspicions’ because the investigation is still underway, but I will ask the Investigative Committee to make sure that all work on opening criminal cases is completed and cases opened are sent on to the courts,” said Putin.