In Today’s Deep Space Extra… Upcoming National Geographic cable series, Mars, will take viewers through the challenges of a human mission based on the views of top experts.
Human Deep Space Exploration
New NatGeo Mars series blends today’s realities with tomorrow’s dreams
Spacepolicyonline.com (11/11): National Geographic’s new miniseries, Mars, debuts on the cable channel on Monday. Drawn from the book Mars: Our Future on the Red Planet, by writer Leonard David, the cable series interweaves interviews with experts and science fiction to tell the story of a possible human mission to Mars in 2033. The cable version premiered in Washington at the publication’s headquarters Thursday night.
Russia, NASA will jointly train crews for interplanetary travel
Sputnik News (11/11): NASA and Russia’s Institute for Biomedical Problems (RIBP) have signed an agreement that will prepare astronauts from both countries for interplanetary flight. The agreement will feature a five-year program of isolation experiments, according to Oleg Orlov, RIBP director.
What does a Trump administration mean for space?
Space News (11/9): The president-elect’s space focus could be human spaceflight, technology development and commercialization, according to remarks from Robert Walker, the former U.S. congressman who covered nine points in a pre-election day briefing before the Federal Aviation Administration’s Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee. Walker, who acted as a space policy adviser to Donald Trump, however, cautioned his audience against counting on more funding.
Recycling space junk for missions to Mars
Seeker (11/8): Firefly Space Systems CEO Tom Markusic proposes sweeping up major elements of the half million pieces of man-made space debris orbiting the Earth. Nonfunctioning satellites, for instance, could be towed to the Martian moon Phobos using solar electric propulsion. There, human workers could salvage components to manufacture Martian hardware. The salvage effort might provide major savings by reducing red planet launch costs.
New Kennedy Space Center attraction to open with 25 astronauts on hand
Orlando Sentinel (11/9): The Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex is set to debut its newest attraction on Friday, Heroes & Legends featuring the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame. Twenty-five guest astronauts, including some who launched aboard NASA’s Gemini and Apollo programs, will attend. The Hall is extending free admission to active and retired military and a limited number of their guests.
Space Science
UK’s Beagle 2 Mars probe nearly aced 2003 landing, study suggests
Space.com (11/10): Europe’s first Mars lander, Beagle 2, apparently made it successfully to the surface of the red planet on December 25, 2003, according to a new study led by England’s University of Leicester. Once on the surface, the spacecraft deployed three of four solar panels. An antenna problem apparently kept the spacecraft from transmitting information back to Earth. Imagery of the landing site gathered by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was used to make the new evaluation. Last month, ESA’s latest attempt to place a lander on Mars, the joint Russian ExoMars Mission’s Schiaparelli spacecraft, resulted in a crash.
Tardy CME sparks auroras over Africa
Spaceweather.com (11/10): With lots of solar activity headed toward Earth, aurora displays should continue into the weekend.
Dark energy could force the universe to gradually unzip itself
New Scientist (11/9): Portuguese scientist Mariam Bouhmadi-Lópe proposes the possibility that dark energy, the force causing the universe to expand, may ultimately cause the cosmos to rip itself apart. A more popular theory proposes that the universe will expand steadily until the stars and galaxies become too dim to see.
Low Earth Orbit
First artificial gravity to appear at ISS thanks to Russian scientists
Sputnik International (11/10): The device will introduce varying levels of gravity to the weightless environment of the International Space Station with the introduction of a small centrifuge for a range of experiments.
China focus: President Xi talks with astronauts in space
Xinhuanet (11/9): Earlier this week Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with two of his nation’s astronauts currently in the midst of a 33-day stay aboard the orbiting Tiangong-2 space lab. The Chinese leader inquired about their science program, living conditions and health. Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong’s October 17 launch marked the start of China’s third manned mission.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
China lofts pulsar navigation demo satellite
Spaceflightnow.com (11/10): Launched early Thursday (late Wednesday in the U.S.) from China’s Jiuquan space center, the XPNAV 1 satellite spacecraft demo will monitor X-rays from distant pulsars to navigate. The technique is considered to have possible GPS potential for deep space guidance.