Today’s Deep Space Extra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. Experts suggest a moon base could offer a less costly means of reaching Mars with human explorers. NASA’s Dava Newman brings more than enthusiasm to her duties as NASA’s new deputy administrator. The nation’s first foray into deep space spawned popular and thought provoking TV and cinema. Could there be a second wave? There’s lots more besides Pluto to explore, including Pluto’s sibling Ceres. Just days away — a blue moon. What’s better than flying in space? Spacewalking. Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen scales an arctic crater with visions of exploring the moon and Mars. Russian prosecutors focus on massive theft at the Vostochny Cosmodrome. NTSB to hear details on fatal Oct. 31 SpaceShipTwo crash.
Human Deep Space Exploration
Cutting the costs of a human return to the Moon
The Space Review (7/27): The Earth’s moon, so it seems, is not in the critical path of NASA’s human Mars exploration ambitions. However, a new report, financed in part with a space agency grant, suggests why it could be. A public private lunar partnership modeled after NASA’s efforts to foster private sector cargo and astronaut transportation services to the International Space Station, could lower costs, TSR Editor Jeff Foust explains in an essay.
Meet the bad ass woman who will put humans on Mars
Boston Globe (7/27): “I’m motivated every single day because my passion is exploration,” explains Dava Newman, one time MIT engineer, and since May, NASA’s deputy administrator. Newman believes the agency’s three phase approach will land humans on Mars by the mid-2030s. Also, her work on space suits may lead to a less bulky, more comfortable fit than the garments required now for astronaut spacewalks.
1997, 2001, 1999: a science fiction calendar from the Apollo era
The Space Review (7/27): Looking back, Apollo era productions like Lost in Space, which debuted on American television in 1965, 2001: A Space Odyssey, which graced motion picture theaters in 1968, and Space: 1999, which surfaced on television later, serve as reminders of how much the first epoch of human deep space exploration reached into the American psyche. Essayist Andre Bormanis, television writer and producer, sees hope for a resurgence.
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
Beyond Pluto: 5 things left to explore in our solar system
CBC, of Canada (7/27): Pluto is not the end of the line for solar system exploration, say advocates of future robotic missions. Still to be explored are the large asteroids and Kuiper Belt Objects, Eris and Sedna. Then, there is the rich lineup of comets and asteroids, some of them potential impactors, and Europa, the ice and ocean covered moon of Jupiter.
Strange bright spots on Ceres create mini-atmosphere on dwarf planet
Space.com (7/27): Findings from NASA’s Dawn mission to Ceres, the solar system’s other dwarf planet, suggests that mysterious bright spots on the large asteroid’s surface create a localized atmosphere.
Will the Moon really turn blue?
Spaceweather.com (7/28): On July 31, it’s once in a blue moon, i. e. the second full moon of a single month. The moon was full the first time this month on July 2. The blue tinge: not so much.
Low Earth Orbit
What’s it like to fly in space? A NASA astronaut shares the real journey
Huntsville Times (7/27): When it comes to work, there’s nothing more rewarding than a spacewalk, explains NASA astronaut Barry “Butch” Wilmore, a former but recent resident of the International Space Station.
Arctic crater preps new astronaut for space
Space.com (7/27): Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen’s explorations of a remote recently discovered arctic crater are preparing him and others for the challenges of deep space exploration, including the rugged terrains of the moon and Mars.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
$126 million stolen from Russian Vostochny Cosmodrome project
Moscow Times, of Russia (7/27): Russian prosecutors say $126 million has been stolen from the $3 billion Vostochny Cosmodrome construction project in the country’s Far East. Vostochny represents Russian efforts to establish an independent space launch complex. Currently, Russia carries out major launches from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome.
Suborbital
Federal officials examine probable cause of spaceship crash
Associated Press via ABC News (7/28): The NTSB is scheduled to meet Tuesday to consider the causes of the Oct. 31 SpaceShipTwo breakup over Mojave, Calif., that claimed the life of the co-pilot and injured the pilot. The board will consider pilot training, spacecraft design and mechanical problems as factors. Unraveling the cause and contributing factors promises to make suborbital spaceflight safer, according to outside experts. Virgin Galactic says it’s undeterred in its pursuit of commercial suborbital spaceflight.