In Today’s Deep Space Extra… NASA focuses on the development of new small technologies for exploration of the Moon. Congressional overseers plan a close look at a new independent review critical of the management of the International Space Station’s (ISS) U.S. National Lab activities. Headed for Mercury, the European/Japanese space probe Bepi Columbo raced past the Earth early Friday.
Human Space Exploration
New crew arrives at ISS as House committee starts review of CASIS
Spacepolicyonline.com (4/9): As NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and two Russian colleagues launched and docked to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard a Russian launch vehicle on Thursday to begin a nine month stay, the leadership of the U.S. House Science, Space and Technology Committee pledged a close look at a recently released independent review critical of the oversight of non NASA research activities underway on the orbiting science lab using U.S. National Laboratory assets.
Space Science
Farewell, Earth! Mercury probe makes successful flyby to head deeper into solar system
Space.com (4/10): Launched in late 2018, the joint European and Japanese Bepi Colombo mission spacecraft to Mercury swung by the Earth early Friday as part of a complex, seven year journey. The journey requires seven planetary flybys to achieve the correct trajectory to the planet closest to the sun. The first brought Bepi Columbo within 8,000 miles of Earth just after midnight.
NASA seeks miniature scientific payload concepts for robotic Moon rover scouts
Techcrunch.com (4/9): Working with the crowd sourcing platform HeroX, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is seeking proposals to help reduce the volume and mass of sensors and science instruments placed on future lunar micro rovers to the size of a new bar of soap in order to characterize the surface and environment at the Moon’s south pole. The “Honey, I shrunk the NASA payload” initiative is open to proposals from across the globe by those at least 18 years old and includes prizes totaling $160,000.
How the brown dwarf blows: Wind speed of a ‘failed star’ measured for 1st time
Space.com (4/9): Brown dwarfs are celestial objects larger than Jupiter, yet too small to become stars. Scientists using two techniques involving radio and infrared observatories for measuring wind speeds at a brown dwarf 40 times the mass of Jupiter and 34 light years from Earth have managed to arrive at a calculation for the first time. The findings, which were published in the journal Science, could be useful in making similar measurements on distant extra solar planets.
Other News
Awards for new technologies and another CLPS mission keep NASA humming
Coalition Members in the News – Astrobiotic, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman
Spacepolicyonline.com (4/8): Though dealing with work at home restrictions across much of the agency due to the coronavirus pandemic, NASA is pressing ahead with investments in new lunar exploration technologies and a contract with Masten Space Systems to launch a robotic lunar south pole mission in 2022.
China suffers its second launch failure in less than a month
Ars Technica (4/9): China’s usually reliable Long March 3 B launch vehicle experienced a failure on Thursday as it attempted to orbit an Indonesian telecommunications satellite. The third stage appeared to be the source.
NASA launches Vengeance rover to pay back Mars for killing Opportunity back in 2018
The Onion (4/8): More than a bit of satire from The Onion over the loss of NASA’s Opportunity rover on Mars during a 2018 dust storm. Oppy explored the Martian terrain for more than 14 years.