Today’s Deep Space Extra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden declares human explorers closer than ever to reaching Mars. The Martian, slated to open in movie theaters Oct. 2, finds fans at NASA. A Mars mission could change humanity’s reliance on disposable commodities for the better, explains Mars One candidate, or are the risks too much? Europe looks to the moon, then Mars for human missions. Europe/Russia announce small delay in 2016 Mars orbiter mission. Latest New Horizons images form the basis for a Pluto flyover video. New NASA deep space mini cam could find new surgical role. Small Washington firm becomes part of key pre-launch tests of the James Webb Space Telescope. Major Jovian moons respond to Jupiter’s tidal forces. Astronaut Mark Kelly, NASA’s one year space traveler, talks exercise, laundry on Twitter forum. The U.S. Air Force accelerates service for two geosynchronous surveillance satellites. China debuts its new Long March 6 rocket. Sir Richard Branson meets with future SpaceShipTwo passengers to lay out test flight plans. A look at major space related activities planned for the week ahead.
Human Deep Space Exploration
A manned mission to Mars is closer to reality than ever
Space.com (9/18): In Washington, top NASA officials joined with Andy Weir, author of the bestselling The Martian, to discuss the agency’s future human exploration. NASA is closer than ever to reaching Mars with human explorers, says the agency’s administrator Charles Bolden. A human landing in the 2030s is eminently achievable, said Bolden.
NASA and ‘The Martian’: It was written in the stars
Newsweek (9/20): NASA and producers of The Martian find a tight bond in the film production of the book of the same title from Andy Weir. The film and book follow the struggles of a fictional U.S. astronaut stranded on the planet with little to sustain him. NASA itself is working on strategies to overcome the obstacles.
Why our homecoming is not the point
The Huffington Post (9/18): Mars One candidate Pietro Aliprandi explains his desire to help settle the red planet in an op-ed. Mars settlers must learn to live without the disposables that play such a key role in modern life on Earth. “Recycling 99.9% of items on Mars will not only be affordable, but also a driving force to further develop and apply such technologies on Earth. A round-trip would not be as effective as a permanent settlement in promoting this and many other technologies on both planets,” writes Aliprandi.
The New York Times (9/21): Reaching for Mars is too much of a challenge for humans, and once there, the challenges of developing the resources to sustain life are too great, writes author Ed Regis, whose works examine the hazards of technology.
Reiter: ‘Man could return to Moon in second half of next decade’
Deutsche Welle, of Germany (9/19): Astronaut Thomas Reiter, the European Space Agency’s director of human spaceflight and operations, outlines the agency’s strategy for future human spaceflight. After the International Space Station, it’s the moon in the second half of next decade, then Mars, all as a global endeavor.
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
Launch of Russia-EU space probe to Mars will be postponed
Sputnik News (9/18): The launch of the joint European/Russian ExoMars-1 orbiter atop a Russian Proton rocket will be delayed from January to Mar. 14 to deal with a technical issue. The orbiter is part of a two mission strategy to study the habitability of the Martian environment. A rover is planned for 2018.
Soar over the stunning surface of Pluto with NASA’s latest video
Washington Post (9/18): New images from NASA’s New Horizons mission provide the basis for a “fly over” video of distant Pluto’s surprisingly multi-faceted terrain.
NASA’s new MARVEL: A tiny 3-D camera that can look inside your head
Newsweek (9/19): MARVEL, a small camera developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a tool for deep space exploration, has a spin-off application, an asset for minimally invasive brain surgery. After FDA trials, MARVEL may aid in brain tumor surgery and treatment of Parkinson’s disease.
To shake and rattle is this firm’s role
Seattle Times (9/19): A small Washington firm, Team Corp., has a key role in preparations for the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, the Hubble Space Telescope’s designated successor. Team will provide the machinery for ground based vibration testing at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. The JWST is planned for a late 2018 launching.
Fire and ice: Tides drive Jupiter’s ocean moons
Discovery.com (9/18): Jupiter’s tidal influences appear to drive water or magma oceans on the moon’s Io, Europa, Callisto and Ganymede. NASA’s already launched Juno spacecraft is on the way for a prolonged orbital look in 2016. Europe’s Juice mission is headed for a 2022 launch. Juno will reach the Jovian system in 2030.
Low Earth Orbit
What astronaut Scott Kelly learned from 6 months in space
CNN (9/19): On Saturday, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, who just passed the half-way mark in his yearlong mission to the International Space Station with Russian Mikhail Kornienko, participated in a Tweet Up. The topics ranged from exercise to doing the laundry, or not.
Space surveillance sats pressed into early service
Space News (9/18): The U.S. Air Force plans to accelerate the operational status of two Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP) satellites to observe two objects of interest. The GSSAP was developed in part to monitor potential threats to U.S. satellites posed by Russia and China.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
China focus: China’s new carrier rocket succeeds in 1st trip
Xinhuanet, of China (9/20): China’s Long March 6 rocket carried out its inaugural launching early Sunday. 20 small satellites rode along for space tests. The future of the kerosene and the liquid oxygen fueled rocket is in launching micro-sats, according to the report.
Suborbital
Branson’s next-generation SS2 headlines Virgin Galactic Explorers Club gathering
Forbes.com (9/19): Sir Richard Branson’s New York Explorer’s Club audience included prospective SpaceShipTwo (SS2) passengers from Canada, England and Switzerland as well as the U.S. Test flights of the second SS2 are planned in 2016, said Branson, who plans to be a passenger on the first commercial flight.
Major Space Related Activities for the Week
Major space related activities for the week of September 21-25, 2015
Spacepolicyonline.com (9/20): In Washington, the U.S. Senate and House are in limited session this week, with action on a budget Continuing Resolution awaiting. The 2015 fiscal year ends Sept. 30. Other pending space matters include the future of the Export-Import Bank and legislation affecting the future of U.S. commercial space activities.