Today’s Deep Space Extra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. Donald Trump joins U.S. presidential candidates who have addressed future human space exploration. NASA’s long running Cassini mission at Saturn is on course for a final close pass by the moon Dione. Scientists link geological activity on Pluto to nitrogen release. Gecko gripping could be model for space robots. Sunspots merit illuminating recount. Traces of a fifth solar system “gas giant” planet raises intrigue. NASA engineers plan to transplant water tanks from the shuttle orbiter Endeavour to the International Space Station. Russia plans an International Space Station robot. Moscow presses electronic warfare to counter U.S. space defenses. Learning Russian language is just one challenge faced by French astronaut Thomas Pesquet. Chinese explosion could damage space efforts. Orbital ATK looks forward to a busy 2016 at Virginia’s Mid Atlantic Regional Spaceport. Major space related activities planned for the week ahead.
Human Deep Space Exploration
Trump: “I want to rebuild our infrastructure” before sending people to Mars
Spacepolicyonline.com (8/16): What are U.S. presidential candidates saying at this stage of the 2016 campaign about human space exploration? New York businessman Donald Trump addressed the issue during a New Hampshire rally on Friday. Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush commented earlier.
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
Cassini spacecraft to make final flyby of Dione on Monday
Orlando Sentinel (8/16): NASA’s long running Cassini spacecraft at Saturn will make its fifth and final close pass by the moon Dione on Monday, using instrumentation to determine whether there is geological activity — possibility ice volcanoes — at the north pole. Cassini has been orbiting Saturn since 2004. Before the mission draws to a close scientists plan to send Cassini speeding between Saturn and its ring system.
New study suggests abundance of nitrogen on Pluto may be due to cryovolcanism
America Space (8/14): Based on data from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, scientists are finding distant Pluto surprising geologically active. The activity includes recent flows of nitrogen ice.
Gecko feet inspire climbing space robots
Space.com (8/13): Robots assigned to inspect and make repairs outside the International Space Station may benefit from feet that grip like geckos, say engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Wild sunspot activity looks tamer in 400-year recount
Space.com (8/14): A recount by scientists suggests previous estimates of solar blemishes are fewer than thought. The 400 year look back suggests the sun is tamer than portrayed.
Our solar system may have had a fifth ‘giant’ planet
Huffington Post (8/16): Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, the solar system’s current “Gas Giants” may once have had company. A fifth giant may have vanished in a collision with Neptune — four billion years ago.
Low Earth Orbit
Taking Endeavour’s tanks: Retired shuttle donating water tanks for Space Station
Collectspace.com (8/17): Engineers plan to gather at the California Science Center in Los Angeles this week to extract four tanks from the mid-deck of the shuttle orbital Endeavour, which has been on public display for three years. The tanks will be prepared for transfer to the International Space Station, where their storage of water will help to reduce time consuming water transfers. The transfers are a frequent requirement for space station astronauts, time that could be re-purposed to more work on science and technology demonstrations.
Russia to send first ever robot-cosmonaut to ISS
Sputnik News (8/15): Russia’s robot assistant would join robotic hardware developed by the Canadian Space Agency and NASA on board the International Space Station. Russian robotics are part of the U.S. Mars Science Laboratory rover mission and will be an important part of Russia’s plans to establish a human lunar base.
Russia to engage U.S. in space wars with new electronic warfare technology
Sputnik News (8/14): Russia is prepared to engage in electronic warfare in space if the United States pursues military battle stations in orbit, according to Igor Nasenkov, the first deputy head of Russia’s Radio-Electronic Technologies Concern.
French astronaut learning Russian, looking forward to ISS flight
TASS, of Russia (8/14): Some mastery of the Russian language is just one of the challenges of preparing for a long stay aboard the International Space Station, according to European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet, of France, who is preparing for a 2016 mission.
Will Tianjin explosion impact China’s space program?
Spacepolicyonline.com (8/15): An Aug. 12 blast responsible for dozens of casualties and damage to China’s National Supercomputing Center in the port city of Tianjin may have a ripple effect on Beijing’s space program development, according a review of Chinese and U.S. media reports.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
Antares launches to resume at Wallops in 2016
Salisbury Daily Times, of Maryland (8/16): Orbital ATK prepares for a busy 2016 featuring multiple launches of cargo to the International Space Station under the terms of a NASA commercial re-supply contract. Launches with Orbital’s modified Antares rocket are planned to resume from Virginia’s Eastern shore early in the year as part of a recovery from an Oct. 28, 2014 launch mishap at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport.
Major Space Related Activities for the Week
Major space related activities for the week of August 17-September 4, 2015
Spacepolicyonline.com (8/16): Wednesday’s scheduled launching of Japan’s fifth cargo mission to the International Space Station represents the most visible scheduled space related activity for the week ahead. Poor weather at the Japanese launch site prompted delays in launch plans Sunday and Monday. In Washington, Congress has adjourned until Sept. 8.