Today’s Deep Space Extra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. President Obama hosted students at Monday’s “Astronomy Night” at the White House, suggesting some of them may have the opportunity to explore Mars. Russia welcomes Europe’s interest in a human lunar base. Suspicions and legal obstacles block U.S./Chinese cooperation in space exploration. Pluto revelations equate to delayed gratification for New Horizons mission scientists. Scientists identify Earthly bacteria that could adjust to conditions on Europa, Jupiter’s ocean covered moon. The U.S. government prepares to spend $6 billion on space situational awareness. A new NASA website to feature photos of Earth. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center director announces retirement. Commercial space faces a pivotal decade.
Human Deep Space Exploration
Obama, budding astronomers look at moon, dream of Mars at White House
Reuters (10/20): President Obama hosted “Astronomy Night” at the White House on Monday by joining with students to peer through telescopes and look at the moon. Budding young scientists examined a moon rock. “We need to inspire more young people to ask about the stars,” Obama told the crowd, urging parents and teachers to help students explore the field. “Some of you might be on your way to Mars!” Obama told the students.
Russia and Europe are working together to plan a permanent base on the moon
Quartz (10/19): Russia’s long term quest to establish a human base on the moon is finding support in Europe. One possible destination is the lunar south pole and its potential resources. Luna 27, an uncrewed Russian mission designed to assess the feasibility of a human base, will assess the moon’s soil.
Here’s why NASA won’t work with China to explore space
Tech Insider (10/19): In the film drama The Martian, China plays a perhaps unexpected role in the efforts to rescue a NASA astronaut stranded on Mars. Could it happen in real life? Since 2011, the U.S. Congress has prohibited U.S./China cooperation in space.
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
Delayed gratification: Early results from the New Horizons Pluto flyby
Space Review (10/19): Last week, NASA’s New Horizons mission team published the first results from its historic July 14 flyby of distant Pluto and its large moon Charon. The findings, which are still making their way back to Earth suggest that the Kuiper Belt is made up of a diverse lot of planetary bodies. Pluto has mountains of water ice rivaling the North American Rockies. The dwarf planet shows signs of modern geological activity as well and may once have had a rich atmosphere thick enough to accommodate water flows.
These bacteria could live in Europa’s ocean
Discovery.com (10/19): Astriobiologists identify some strains of terrestrial bacteria that could adapt well to the conditions thought to exist on Europa, the ice and ocean covered moon of Jupiter. Astrobiologist Sandra Ramirez, with Mexico’s Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Morelos, and colleagues tested three strains of bacteria. NASA and the European Space Agency hope to develop new missions to Jupiter’s Europa to follow up on findings from NASA’s Galileo mission.
Low Earth Orbit
U.S. plans $6 billion investment in space situational awareness
Space News (10/19): The U.S. government is preparing to spend $6 billion through 2020 to increase its monitoring of the near Earth space environment, according to a recent assessment from the U.S. General Accountability Office, the accounting arm of Congress. The Pentagon will foot most of the investment; however, NASA and other agencies will contribute. The investment includes a secret missile tracking satellite. The spending is coming in response to concerns over Russian and Chinese orbital activities.
NASA to post new ‘blue marble’ pictures every day
Spaceflightnow.com (10/19): NASA initiated a new website on Monday that features updated images of the Earth from the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite. The DSCOVR mission, a cooperative endeavor between NASA, NOAA and the U.S. Air Force, was launched Feb. 11, 2015. The mission’s primary objective is to monitor the solar wind.
Marshall Space Flight Center director announces retirement in email today
Alabama.com (10/19): Marshall Space Flight Center Director Patrick Scheuermann announced on Monday that he will retire effective Nov. 13. A successor has not been named. Recently, Scheuermann announced the appointment of Todd May, formerly head of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) exploration rocket development program, as his deputy director.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
From airplanes to spacecraft
The Space Review (10/19): In January 2014, the mayor of St. Petersburg, Fla., paid $400 in an auction to become the first recorded commercial aircraft passenger. In April 2001, U.S. businessman Dennis Tito launched aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station, paying an estimated $20 million to earn a similar distinction for spaceflight. The commercial aircraft business flourishes decades after the 2014 milestone because of advances in technology, destinations and routes as well as paying passengers, notes essayist Anthony Young, founder and president of Personal Spaceflight Advisors LLC. The coming decade should determine whether personal spaceflight can follow the trail blazed by aircraft passenger travel, he writes.