Today’s Deep Space Extra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. U.S. Senate action Monday and Tuesday on a temporary budget measure may prevent a U.S. government shutdown as the 2015 fiscal year draws to a close on Wednesday. Ridley Scott, director of the reality based space drama The Martian, learned early of NASA’s dramatic water on Mars announcement. The moon’s Helium 3: Is it the same incentive for future human exploration as water on Mars? Evidence of wide spread water flows on Mars raises intriguing questions about life on the red planet and plans for future human exploration. Even with a water source, Mars represents a harsh environment for humans, say experts. Scientists explain Comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko’s odd “rubber duck” shape. The U.S. and China talk space in Beijing. U.S. Air Force approves Lockheed Martin’s new space fence plan. An automated Japanese re-supply capsule departs the International Space Station after temporary difficulties. The congressional fate of the U.S. Export-Import Bank, a tool for the U.S. sales of satellites and rocket launches abroad, appears uncertain. The U.S. House backs a six month FAA extension of the commercial space “learning period” facing Wednesday expiration. China’s solid fueled Long March 11 rocket makes a successful launch debut.
NASA’s 2016 Budget
Senate advances CR; shutdown fears all but over — for now
Spacepolicyonline.com (9/28): Lingering concerns over a possible U.S. government shutdown at mid-week may be over. The U.S. Senate on Monday advanced a proposed budget Continuing Resolution that would keep the federal government operating beyond the Wednesday, Sept. 30 end of the 2015 fiscal year. The Senate legislation, which is scheduled for a vote on Tuesday, would prevent a shutdown through Dec. 11. With Senate passage, the measure moves on to the House, with time for a shutdown running close.
Human Deep Space Exploration
Ridley Scott learned about water on Mars before we did, but not in time to change ‘Martian’
New York Times (9/28): Ridley Scott, director of The Martian, says NASA spoke with him and shared satellite imagery about Monday’s announcement of water on Mars about two months ago. The much anticipated film drama about a future astronaut stranded on Mars after a major dust storm forces his colleagues to depart is set to open in theaters Friday. The book is based on the popular novel of the same name written by Andy Weir, who strived for scientific and engineering accuracy.
The Space Review (9/28): The suspected presence of Helium-3 on the lunar surface as a justification for renewed human activity on the moon receives a fresh look from essayist Dwayne Day. Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt, a geologist, has been among the advocates of mining He-3 as a fuel for the generation of electricity with fusion reactors on Earth. Day counsel’s skepticism on three fronts, not the least of which is the challenge of engineering a fusion reactor on Earth. Others obstacles are demonstrating an abundance of the isotope on the moon, and staging mining operations.
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
NASA confirms signs of water flowing on Mars, possible niches for life
New York Times (9/28): Evidence for water flows on Mars raises the prospect that the neighboring planet once hosted and perhaps currently hosts microbial life.
NASA: Mars has salty flowing water today; could Red Planet host life?
Los Angeles Times (9/28): Observations from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter points to periodic salty flows of water on sloped terrains of Mars, NASA announced on Monday. Agency officials say the discovery will have an impact on both the search for extraterrestrial life on and the human exploration of Mars. A study outlining the findings was published Monday in the journal Nature Geoscience.
NASA finds evidence of recent flowing water on Mars
USA Today (9/28): Evidence of flowing water of Mars suggests the planet’s cold, dry appearance does not tell the whole story. Water is both a sign the red planet hosts or once hosted some form of life. The discovery of an underground water source also represents a critical resource for future human explorers.
Mystery solved: Water DOES flow on Mars
Discovery.com (9/28): Scientific experts discussed evidence on Monday for widespread periodic surface water flows on Mars. The source of the briny flows, however, remains a mystery.
Water on Mars: Now what?
Orlando Sentinel (9/19): The presence of water points to the current possibility of microbial life on Mars, say top NASA scientists. However, the space agency is years away from a confirmation, either with the launch of robotic spacecraft or human explorers.
Will we ever colonize Mars? (op-ed)
Space.com (9/28): Visiting Mars will not be easy, even if you believe it will be very, very difficult, writes astrophysicist Paul Sutter in an Expert Voices op-ed. The neighboring planet is cold with a poisonous atmosphere. Then there are the challenges of pre-staging supplies, finding a place to land and live while preserving the fuel to launch and return to Earth.
How Rosetta’s 67P comet got its ‘rubber duck’ shape
Christian Science Monitor (9/28): Studies of imagery from the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft suggest the Comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko got its strange “rubber duck” shape from the low velocity collision of two comets. Rosetta reached Comet 67/P in August 2014 and dispatched a lander to the surface in November 2014.
Low Earth Orbit
U.S., China hold first civil space dialogue meeting
Spacepolicyonline.com (9/28): Space policy, space debris, Earth observations and space navigation were among the topics discussed in Beijing Monday during the first session of an ongoing U.S. – China Dialogue on Civil Space Cooperation. The talks are scheduled to resume next year in Washington. The U.S. State Department and the China National Space Administration served as Monday’s co-chairs. Details from the closed session were limited.
Lockheed Martin forges ahead on ‘space fence’ as U.S. Air Force OKs design
Washington Business Journal (9/29): The U.S. Air Force on Monday approved Lockheed Martin’s plans for a digital radar network for the tracking of objects in Earth orbit, including growing amounts of manmade debris. The approval sets the station for design and construction. Lockheed received a $914 million contract for the national security work in June 2014, according to the report.
HTV supply ship sets course for re-entry
Spaceflightnow.com (9/28): After a temporary robotic arm snag, the crew of the International Space Station cast off Japan’s fifth automated HTV re-supply mission spacecraft on Monday. The capsule arrived on Aug 24 with 9,500 pounds of water, much needed spare parts and new research hardware. Once ground controllers overcame an issue with the grapple fixture on the station’s Canadian robot arm, the capsule maneuvered away from the station on Monday carrying trash. The capsule is scheduled to make a destructive re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday afternoon.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
The import of a satellite exporter’s bank
The Space Review (9/28): Opponents in Congress succeeded earlier this year in preventing a re-authorization beyond June 30 of the Export Import Bank of the United States, a financial institution that over the past five years has provided a funding source for foreign companies prepared to purchase U.S. satellites and launch services. But there have been some bad deals as well, and legislative critics wonder why the federal government in involved. It’s unclear whether a pending budget Continuing Resolution or change in U.S. House leadership will lead to eventual re-authorization.
House passes six month extension of “learning period” for commercial human spaceflight
Spacepolicyonline.com (9/28): The U.S. House on Monday backed legislation that would extend for six months an FAA “learning period” for the regulation of commercial space activities. Current regulations expire on Wednesday. The House has proposed an extension until 2025, the Senate until 2020, requiring a compromise or another extension within six months.
Second new Chinese launcher flies in a week
Spaceflightnow.com (9/28): China’s Long March 11 rocket made its launch debut late Thursday, placing four small satellites in polar orbits. The four stage Long March 11 is solid fueled. China’s new liquid-fueled Long March 6 rocket took off on its premier mission Sept. 19.