In Today’s Deep Space Extra… U.S. space marathoner Scott Kelly will write of his long mission and how it can help contribute to the human exploration of Mars in a new book.
Human Deep Space Exploration
Scott Kelly will take readers along for a year in space in new memoir
Time (4/6): Scott Kelly, recently returned to Earth from a U.S. record setting 340 days in space aboard the International Space Station, is writing a book about his adventure. Endurance: My Year in Space and Our Journey to Mars, will address the effects of the long mission on the astronaut and how the experience was critical to future human space exploration. Kelly and his Russian colleague, Mikhail Kornienko, served as subjects in a range of experiments intended to help future explorers overcome the physical and mental challenges of a years’ long journey to Mars. Kelly retired from NASA April 1. The book will be published in November 2017
Space Science
Supermassive black holes may be more common than anyone imagined
NPR (4/6): A new study using the Hubble Space Telescope and other observatories suggests that super massive black holes may be more common than we think. The study team reached their conclusion after finding a super massive black hole, weighing in at 17 billion solar masses, in an unexpected place, lurking in an average looking cluster of galaxies.
Exploding stars may have seeded the Earth with star dust 2 million years ago
Mashable (4/6): Supernova, or stellar explosions, are rare on human time scales. But researchers have found evidence that at least one occurred not that far from the Earth two million years ago. The evidence lies in the discovery of the rare element Iron-60 in ocean core samples.
Dawn mission expected to go into overtime at Ceres
Spaceflightnow.com (4/6): NASA’s Dawn mission spacecraft has been circling the dwarf planet Ceres for more than a year, discovering evidence of subsurface ice and hints of an ocean below. The mission has been scheduled to conclude in mid-2016. But Dawn has enough fuel to carry on through early next year.
New Horizons sniffs out the space weather around Pluto
Washington Post (4/6): NASA’s New Horizons mission made history as it became the first spacecraft to flyby Pluto last July. But the data coming back to Earth from the spacecraft is also providing new information about the sun’s influence on the far reaches of the solar system.
Low Earth Orbit
Nigeria plans to launch an astronaut into space, become respected space power
Inverse (4/7): Nigeria this week announced plans to launch its first astronaut into space by 2030. “Space is a major asset that Nigeria must be involved in for the purpose of protecting national interests,” said Ogbonnaya Onu, the Nigerian Minister of Science and Technology, during a speech in the capital city Abuja. Nigeria will look to China for a launch opportunity.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
Meet the latest multimillionaire with an out-of-this-world idea for space
The Washington Post (4/6): Las Vegas businessman Robert Bigelow will be watching closely on Friday as the Bigelow Expandable Activities Module launches as part of the next cargo delivery to the International Space Station. BEAM will spend two years at the station undergoing evaluation as a model for future space habitats, both those in Earth orbit and for astronauts traveling to and living on the moon and Mars. Packed compactly for the launch, the fabric structure will be expanded once it’s berthed to the Space Station’s U.S. segment.
Year-in-space astronaut Scott Kelly named Breitling watches ambassador
Collectspace.com (4/6): U.S. space marathoner Scott Kelly will represent Breitling, the Swiss watch maker. The business deal was announced this week. Kelly, who retired from NASA on April 1, returned from a U.S. record setting 340 day mission to the International Space Station on Mar. 1.