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Today’s CSExtra offers the latest reporting and commentary on space related activities from across the globe. NASA engineers believe inflatable heat shields could be a critical technology for supporting humans on Mars. The New Year will be an important one in the development of the James Webb Space Telescope. The ‘super bowl’ of astronomy convenes in Seattle this week. High altitude balloons study remnants of the big bang. Pluto flyby high on list of 2015 space ventures. NASA Mercury mission to get new life. SETI scientists listen for signals from Kepler planets. NASA’s Mars Opportunity rover awaits computer memory fix. International Space Station’s U.S. segment facing year of change. European/Russian experiments aboard space station looks at life’s limits. Global commercial launch activity in 2014 most in decades. The U.S. Government Accountability Office may be near a decision on a challenge to NASA’s Commercial Crew Program contract awards from Sierra Nevada. NASA’s Kennedy Space Center ready for pivotal 2015 in post shuttle transition. Weather permitting, NASA, SpaceX ready for first U.S. space mission of 2015, a re-supply flight to the International Space Station. Richard Branson eager to overcome 2014 SpaceShipTwo tragedy.
Human Deep Space Exploration
NASA explores inflatable spacecraft technology
Associated Press via New York Times (1/5): NASA looks to inflatable heat shield technologies to make future human missions to Mars possible. Parachutes alone are not enough to bring crucial payloads to the surface of the red planet, say those involved in the work at NASA’s Langley Research Center.
Unmanned Deep Space Exploration
Busy times ahead for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope
Spaceflight Insider (1/3): Preparations underway for the 2018 launch of the James Webb Space Telescope include a round of testing in a Thermal Vacuum Chamber at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. The test will expose the observatory to space flight conditions. The observatory was designed to operate nearly 1 million miles from Earth.
‘Super Bowl of Astronomy’ blasts off in Seattle this week
Space.com (1/4): The American Astronomical Society is gathered in Seattle this week for its winter meeting. More than 2,600 are expected to attend the meeting to discuss new distant planet discoveries and other topics closer to the Earth.
Big Bang to be investigated from balloon in Antarctica
New York Times (1/2): A set of six telescopes known as SPIDER, for Suborbital Polarimeter for Inflation, Dust and the Epoch of Reionization, was lofted recently by balloon from Antarctica to study microwave remnants of the big bang. The flight is scheduled to last 20 days.
The space missions and events we’re most looking forward to in 2015
Wired.com (1/2): Wired’s list includes NASA’s New Horizons mission flyby of Pluto in July and the Dawn probe’s arrival at the large asteroid Ceres in March. Meanwhile, the European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission at the Comet 67P/ChuryumovGerasimenko continues to make new discoveries.
NASA’s Mercury spacecraft gets a life ‘boost’
Discovery.com (1/3): NASA’s MESSENGER mission at Mercury may get new life with a previously unanticipated boost maneuver on Jan. 21. Launched in 2004, the spacecraft orbiting the planet closest to the sun will otherwise plunge to the surface in March.
Kepler candidate planets searched for signs of intelligent life
Space.com (1/2): SETI scientists aim terrestrial radio telescopes toward extraterrestrial planets identified using NASA’s Kepler space telescope. Signs of signals from possible intelligent life were not detected. The planet targets were selected for qualities similar to those of the Earth.
NASA hopes a hack will overcome Mars rover’s memory gap
NPR (1/3): After nearly 11 years on Mars, NASA’s Opportunity rover stands ready for new challenges. First, the rover must overcome a computer memory issue with help from ground control teams. The golf cart sized robotic explorer is poised to explore a region called Marathon Valley.
Low Earth Orbit
Hardware movement and reconfiguration to highlight Space Station operations in 2015 (Part 2)
America Space (1/3): The U.S. segment of the International Space Station is slated to undergo change in 2015. Upcoming spacewalks will provide power and other utilities to a pair of future U.S. commercial crew transport vehicle docking ports. A new international docking apparatus is scheduled to arrive by mid-2015.
ISS experiment exposes biological limits in space
SEN (1/3): Attached to the outside of the International Space Station by spacewalking Russian cosmonauts last Fall, the European Space Agency’s EXPOSE experiment is testing the ability of 46 tiny organisms to survive the space environment.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
GAO Decision on Sierra Nevada Bid Protest Expected Monday
Spacepolicyonline.com (1/4): In September, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program selected Boeing and SpaceX for contracts that would complete the development of U.S. private sector launch services for the transportation of astronauts to low Earth orbit by 2017. A third competitor, Sierra Nevada, challenged the award decision. As the arbitrator, the Government Accountability Office is to render a decision soon, perhaps Monday, the website reports.
Launch activity hits 20-year high in 2014
Space News (12/31): Global launch activity reached its highest level in two decades in 2014. Space News reports that Russian and Chinese launches late in the year pushed the total worldwide to 92 for the year past.
Orlando Sentinel (1/4): NASA and International Space Station contract resupplier SpaceX plan their next launch to the six person orbiting science lab early Tuesday, weather permitting. The cargo mission is the first to the station since the Oct. 28 loss of the Orbital Sciences Antares rocket with research equipment and other gear. The launching is the first from the U.S. in 2015. The SpaceX lift off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., is to include an attempt by the company to recover the first stage with a targeted ocean landing atop a barge.
2015 important one in KSC’s post-shuttle transformation
Florida Today (1/3): The Kennedy Space Center’s post shuttle transition to a multi-user spaceport counts 2015 as a major part of the change, Florida Today reports. Workers at Kennedy are developing the infrastructure for the Space Launch System heavy lift rocket for future human missions to deep space destinations as well as reviving a former shuttle/Apollo launch pad for commercial use. The state of Florida is also looking at assuming oversight of the space shuttle runway.
Suborbital
Virgin Galactic will recover from tragic crash, Richard Branson says
Space.com (1/3): In a blog post, Virgin Galactic’s founder said he questioned the company’s future briefly after an Oct. 31 flight test tragedy that claimed the life of SpaceShipTwo’s co-pilot. However, his commitment returned after meeting with company workers. Said Branson, “and so Virgin Galactic goes on, with an unwavering commitment to safety and a renewed sense of purpose.”
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