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Today’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. Last week’s Washington space summit accelerated discussions of a human mission to the red planet, perhaps following an orbital mission. NASA looks to the public for suggestions on deep space comfort, cuisine. Past water may explain Mars reddish glow. Europe’s Rosetta spacecraft listens again for Philae lander on a distant comet. At NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, engineers look at lander options for a Europa mission. Comets visible with binoculars. Russia mulls changes in International Space Station launch plans, according to a Japanese news report. The U.S. Air Force opens upcoming X-37B lift off to intriguing secondary payloads, including a solar sail demonstration. Russia, China agree to share satellite navigation data. NASA technology aids in the search for Nepal earthquake survivors. Commercial prospects bring new support for space. NASA’s Kennedy Space Center seeks industry input on plans for a pair of new launch pads. A look at major space activities planned for the week ahead.
Human Deep Space Exploration
Manned Mars plan: Phobos by 2033, Martian surface by 2039?
Space.com (5/8): Efforts by humans to reach Mars may involve a stop first at Phobos, one of two Martian moons, according to a strategy worked out at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and presented to the annual Humans to Mars Summit in Washington D.C. last week. The plan calls for humans at Phobos in 2033, then the Martian surface by 2039. The timeline is scaled to the technology and funding requirements.
A consensus on going to Mars, but not how to get there
Space News (5/8): NASA Administrator Charles Bolden greeted participants at last week’s Human to Mars Summit in Washington with news of a growing consensus that Mars is the nation’s next human exploration goal. Less certain, though, are the intermediate steps, according summit participants.
Home-cooked meals, comfy chairs and Netflix on Mars? It could happen
NBC News (5/10): Comfort and choices of food will matter when human explorers reach Mars, according to experts involved in mission simulations on Earth. NASA is offering small cash prizes to people who come up with ideas for making deep space livable.
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
Cosmos (5/11): The source of the red is an iron oxide mineralogy, with past water as the most likely oxygen source, say scientists.
Rosetta spacecraft begins to listen out for Philae contact
The Guardian, of London (5/8): The European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission spacecraft begins a listening campaign for the Philae lander. Philae left Rosetta for a landing on the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in November. The rough landing that followed may have placed Philae in a shaded region of the comet that temporarily allowed Philae’s solar power source to become inactive.
A Europa lander is possible, JPL scientists say, and Congress appears likely to support it
Houston Chronicle (5/8): A proposed mission to Europa, Jupiter’s ice and ocean covered moon, could include a lander to further a search for life, according to experts at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory assigned to develop an affordable strategy.
Head held high, comet Lovejoy does the polar plunge
Universe Today (5/10): With binoculars, comets in both the Earth’s northern and southern hemispheres are visible. It’s Lovejoy in the north and C/2015 G2 Master in the south.
Low Earth Orbit
Russian launch of new ISS crew members delayed until July: reports
The Japan Times (5/10): The launching of the International Space Station’s next astronauts, Japanese and American as well as Russian, may be delayed from late May to July, according to the Japanese news report. The delay would be linked to Russia’s recent loss of the Progress 59 re-supply mission to the six person orbiting science laboratory.
Inside the U.S. Air Force’s next X-37B space plane mystery mission
Space.com (5/8): The U.S. Air Force welcomes NASA experiments aboard the next flight of the X-37 B, an automated winged reusable space plane. NASA has contributed a materials science experiment to a flight that is largely classified. A May 20 lift off is planned.
Planetary Society set to launch solar sail experiment
NPR (5/9): The U.S. Air Force launching of the X-37B on May 20 will include LightSail-1, a small Planetary Society sponsored secondary payload that will demonstrate the deployment mechanism for a potential interplanetary propulsion system.
Russia, China agree on joint use of GLONASS, Beidou navigation systems
Tass, or Russia (5/10): Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed to share data from the two country’s respective satellite navigation systems, Glonass and Beidou.
Hunting for heartbeats: NASA technology rescues 4 quake survivors in Nepal
Los Angeles Times (5/8): A suitcase-size device, which weighs less than 20 pounds, was able to discover victims who were trapped under roughly 10 feet of debris, including brick, mud and wood following a recent earthquake. The technology was the result of a collaboration between JPL and the Department of Homeland Security.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
The next decade in commercial spaceflight
Huffington Post (5/8): Interest and participation in space flight is destined to grow in the next decade, according to an op-ed from Kellie Gerardi, business development and media specialist with Masten Space Systems and the Commercial Spaceflight Federation.
KSC to seek industry interest in new launch pads
Florida Today (5/8): NASA’s Kennedy Space Center seeks industry comment on the possible construction of two new launch pads, 39C and 39D. The two sites are north of Launch Complex 39B, where NASA plans to launch the new Space Launch System exploration rocket for the first time in 2018.
Major Space Related Activities for the Week
Major space related activities for the week of May 11-15, 2015
Spacepolicyonline.com (5/10): Space science and engineering are scheduled for the Washington D.C. area and Pasadena, Calif., The U.S. House and Senate are in session this week with markups scheduled. Three space station crew members are scheduled to descend to Earth late Wednesday.
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