In Today’s Deep Space Extra… Space-suited NASA astronauts evaluate Orion spacecraft hatches.
Human Deep Space Exploration
Watch astronauts test Orion spaceship door for future Mars trips
Space.com (8/4): This week, NASA astronauts suited up in bulky space suits to test how well they could transit the hatches of the Orion crew exploration vehicle. The test activities demonstrated how well the astronauts could exit the capsule in a spaceflight emergency.
Major overhaul of VAB for NASA’s SLS Mars rocket reaches halfway point with platform installation
Universe Today (8/5): At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, the challenging installation of massive access platforms within the center’s Vehicle Assembly Building has reached the mid-point. The platforms will provide access to the Space Launch System exploration rocket that is under development to start human explorers on Mars and other deep space exploration missions.
Space Science
Are these rocky worlds where we’ll find alien life?
The Huffington Post (8/4): Using observations from NASA’s Kepler space telescope, astronomers are pointing to the exo-planet discoveries so far that have the best chance of having Earth-like conditions. Among the hundreds, there are 20 most likely to have conditions favorable for biological activity.
Dawn glimpses Ceres’ internal structure
Ars Technica (8/4): NASA’s Dawn mission spacecraft has been orbiting the dwarf planet Ceres since March 2015. The latest interpretations of data from Dawn suggest that the large asteroid’s interior has changed greatly.
GIF from NASA shows a comet get vaporized by the sun
Mashable (8/4): A high resolution image from the NASA/European Space Agency SOHO spacecraft this week captured a high velocity comet as it plunged into the sun.
WISE: NASA’s infrared asteroid hunter
Space.com (8/4): Launched in 2009, NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Satellite is proving to be a multi-mission wonder, joining in the discovery of distant bright galaxies as well as nearby asteroids and comets. The space observatory is now designated NEOWISE.
Low Earth Orbit
Earth science discussion latest sign of NASA-China ties
Space News (8/4): Representatives from NASA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences met in Beijing last month to discuss potential coordination on an upcoming Earth sciences mission, China’s TanSat carbon monitoring spacecraft. Similar to NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2, TanSat is scheduled to launch later this year, according to reports. The meeting occurred within the limitations of Congressional restrictions on bi-lateral cooperation with China, according to a NASA spokesman.
Suborbital
NASA-funded experiments will take place on World View balloons
Arizona Daily Star (8/5): World View’s high altitude balloon mission planned for September 2017 will carry NASA funded experiments to measure radiation levels in the upper atmosphere and test an air ballast system developed to control location. Another NASA-funded experiment, a solar instrument pointing platform, is scheduled for a high altitude balloon mission later this month.
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