In Today’s Deep Space Extra… Trump administration drafting legal blueprint for mining on the Moon. Habitats designed and developed to repair themselves may be just the thing for future lunar explorers. Set for launch this summer, NASA’s Perseverance Mars 2020 rover will look for evidence of past life on Mars, which may once of hosted a more friendly environment. Actor Tom Cruise, NASA discuss possible movie filmed at the International Space Station (ISS).
Human Space Exploration
Trump administration drafting ‘Artemis Accords’ pact for Moon mining
Reuters (5/5): The Trump administration is drafting a legal blueprint for mining on the Moon under a new U.S. sponsored international agreement called the Artemis Accords. The agreement would be the latest effort to cultivate allies around NASA’s plan to put humans and space stations on the Moon within the next decade, and comes as the civilian space agency plays a growing role in implementing American foreign policy. The draft pact has not been formally shared with U.S. allies yet.
These self-repairing lunar habitats could help settle the Moon
Coalition Member in the News – Purdue University
Futurism.com (5/5): Engineers from Purdue University are at work on concepts for lunar habitats that could be equipped to deal autonomously with the perils of a meteor impact or lunar seismic activity. Robots would be involved.
Cosmic GPS
Aerospace America (May 2020): The Global Positioning System (GPS) and the attributes of its navigational accuracy are no longer limited to low Earth orbit and the surface of the Earth. Next stop cislunar space and the surface of the Moon. “GPS could be transformative for lunar missions,” says Frank Bauer, a 30-year NASA veteran engineer and now president of FBauer Aerospace Consulting Services, of Maryland.
Space Science
The next mission To Mars: NASA rover will search for signs of ancient life
WMFE-FM of Central Florida (5/5): NASA’s Perseverance Mars 2020 rover is to launch for Mars between July 17 and August 5 on a mission to seek evidence for possible ancient life on Mars as well as gather and cache samples of surface materials for return to Earth and analysis.
Was Mars once ‘blue’? Meteorite discovery sheds light on Red Planet’s early history
Fox News (5/5): A Japanese led research effort points to an organic presence that includes molecules of nitrogen in a meteorite of Martian origin and recovered nearly three decades ago from the Antarctic. The study published in Nature Communications suggests the Red Planet was once wet and rich in organics, the molecular building blocks for life.
InSight mole making slow progress into Martian surface
SpaceNews.com (5/5); Slowly but surely, NASA’s strategy to resume tapping a thermal sensor into the Martian crust, a science first, appears to be working after an early setback linked to the surprising subsurface soil quality. The Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package, sometimes referred to as the “mole” is an instrument aboard NASA’s Mars InSight lander, which touched down on the Red Planet in November 2018.
The hunt for asteroid impacts on the Moon heats up with new observatory
Space.com (5/5): Located in Greece, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Near-Earth Object Lunar Impacts and Optical Transients (NELIOTA) project, is aiding scientists as they attempt to track and study asteroid impacts at the Moon. The findings could assist in the assessment of threats to Earth posed by Near Earth Objects.
Other News
NASA and Space Force to work together on planetary defense
Spacepolicyonline.com (5/5): NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine indicated Tuesday that the recently established U.S. Space Force, the sixth branch of the U.S. military, will work together with NASA on planetary defense, the detection of asteroids that pose an impact threat to the Earth and strategies for defending against a strike.
Risky business? NASA and Tom Cruise talk movie shoot in space
Coalition Member in the News – Axiom Space
New York Times (5/5): Actor Tom Cruise, of Top Gun and Mission Impossible fame, and NASA are discussing a movie venture using the International Space Station (ISS). SpaceX is involved in the early going, however there is not yet studio involvement.
Virgin Galactic is partnering with NASA to develop supersonic point-to-point air travel
Techcrunch.com (5/5): Virgin Galactic on Tuesday announced a Space Act Agreement with NASA to develop a high velocity global point to point air travel capability.