In Today’s Deep Space Extra… Vice President Pence to tour Lockheed Martin facilities near Denver today. NASA decision on 2019 launch plans for Exploration Mission-1 are nearing. President Trump’s nomination of Jim Bridenstine to head NASA is set for a November 1 Senate hearing.
Human Space Exploration
Decision on EM-1 launch date still pending
Space News (10/26): NASA continues to plan for the launch of Exploration Mission-1, the first joint launch of the Space Launch System (SLS) and an Orion crew capsule without astronauts, in 2019. However, the agency is another month from announcing a more specific date, according to Todd May, Director of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, who addressed the timing on Wednesday with others from the agency who are participating in the American Astronautical Society’s Wernher von Braun Memorial Symposium in Huntsville Alabama. EM-1 is to send Orion around the moon and back to Earth to set the stage for a crewed mission follow on called EM-2. The SLS and Orion are cornerstones of NASA’s plans to resume human deep space exploration.
Boeing Starliner spacecraft gets drop tests at NASA Langley
Coalition Member in the News (Boeing)
Hampton Roads Daily Press of Virginia (10/26): NASA test astronauts Suni Williams and Eric Boe joined engineers at NASA’s Langley Research Center this week to observe drop tests of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner, which is partnered with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program to develop a U.S. space transportation system to carry astronauts to and from low Earth orbit. The drop tests are qualifying the Starliner’s airbags to cushion parachute returns on land as well as water.
What humanity’s history in space tells us about our future in the stars
Washington Post (10/25): The former Soviet Union became the first space faring nation 60 years ago this month with the launch of Sputnik. The U.S. was not far behind and through NASA made a successful all-out effort to land humans on the moon in 1969. Today, the number of annual space launches is rising but significantly lower than the early days. NASA spending as a percentage of the U.S. budget has dropped and an ongoing debate over where humans explore next continues.
Space Science
High-altitude clouds on Mars spied by European spacecraft (photos)
Space.com (10/25): The European Space Agency’s aging Mars Express orbiter has spotted big high altitude clouds in the Martian sky.
A comet favorite whips by the sun this week as scientists watch
Space.com (10/25): Comet 96P/Machholz will move in view of the 22-year-old Solar and Heliospheric Observatory satellite mission for the fifth time since 1996. Contents from this comet likely contribute to three meteor showers.
Other News
Pence to visit Lockheed Martin facilities near Denver
Coalition Member in the News (Lockheed Martin)
Spacepolicyonline.com (10/25): Vice President Mike Pence will pay a visit to a Lockheed Martin facility outside Denver Colorado today.
Bridenstine confirmation hearing scheduled for November 1
Spacepolicyonline.com (10/25): Oklahoma Congressman Jim Bridenstine was announced as President Trump’s choice for NASA Administrator on September 2. The U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee has scheduled a hearing on the nomination on November 1.
How close are high altitude platforms to competing with satellites?
Space News (10/26): High altitude helium filled balloons, air ships and unmanned aerial vehicles are starting to show merit globally as candidates to enrich observations and communications that include broadband — all typically provided by satellite. It’s a topic discussed at the World Space Risk Forum in London this year as well as this week’s Space Tech Expo in Bremen Germany.
Army space project a now-or-never moment for low-cost military satellites
Space News (10/25): A U.S. Army prototype satellite, Kestrel Eye, designed to provide soldiers in the field with direct real time reconnaissance of their surroundings was deployed from the International Space Station this week using a new NanoRacks commercial Kaber deployer tailored to small satellites larger than CubeSats.
Hydrazine ban could cost Europe’s space industry billions
Space News (10/25): Europe’s space satellite industry faces a challenge with a possible ban on the use of hydrazine as a satellite maneuvering fuel. Even with an exemption, the cost of using the toxic fuel could double, it appears. And, possible alternatives are not close at hand. The topic was discussed this week at the Space Tech Expo Europe in Bremen Germany.