In Today’s Deep Space Extra… Obama Administration to address oversight of future U.S. commercial deep space ventures.
Human Deep Space Exploration
White House works out a process to clear commercial missions to moon and Mars
GeekWire (6/6): The Department of Transportation’s FAA and other federal agencies are working through a regime to oversee U.S. commercial missions launched to lunar and planetary destinations. Moon Express, a commercial enterprise vying for the Google Lunar X Prize by delivering a lander to the moon’s surface, has been a catalyst in initiating the planning.
New film ‘Mission Control’ focuses on men who put a man on the moon
Collectspace.com (6/6): A few of those in NASA’s Apollo era Mission Control Center became well known: Chris Kraft who developed Mission Control for the agency and Gene Kranz who led to charge to rescue Apollo 13, for example. But there were many more who worked to ensure the successes of the risky bid to land humans on the moon during the tumultuous 1960s.
Space Science
No escape from black holes? Stephen Hawking points to a possible exit
New York Times (6/6): Physicist Stephen Hawking has a surprise. All may not be lost for the matter and all else that falls into a black hole. The details may be re-emitted when the black hole evaporates if the data was stored in a border region known as the Event Horizon.
World’s largest radio telescope faces troubling future
Scientific American (6/6): The National Science Foundation has scheduled a public meeting for today to discuss the future of the storied radio telescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Completed in 1963, the large dish contributed to the initial exo-planet discoveries and confirmation of the existence of gravity waves. The NSF, with its restricted budget, is faced with a choice over continued operations and investments in newer facilities with state of the art technologies. Scientists say Arecibo still has much to contribute.
Low Earth Orbit
Launch of manned Soyuz MS spacecraft to ISS postponed till July 7
TASS, of Russia (6/6): Roscosmos, the Russian federal space agency, has formally postponed from June 24 until July 7 the launch of the next crew members to the International Space Station. They are NASA’s Kate Rubins, Russia’s Anatoly Ivanishin and Japan’s Takuya Onishi. The additional time will permit Roscosmos to work out safety concerns with a major upgrade to the Soyuz crew transport, the MS-01. In the U.S., the new launch time coincides with July 6, 9:36 p.m., EDT. The launch of Russia’s next schedule cargo mission to the Space Station, the Progress MS, has been delayed as well. Rather than July 7, the Russian supply vessel will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on July 17.
Review: ‘A Beautiful Planet’
The Space Review (6/6): A Beautiful Planet, the new IMAX film production, examines life and work aboard the six person International Space Station in 3-D, along with stunning views of the home planet and a hint at what activities on the surface mean for the future of the planet. Narrated by actress Jennifer Lawrence, A Beautiful Planet offers some of the best ways for those of us stuck on Earth to see what life is like off it, or get a new perspective on life on it, writes TSR editor Jeff Foust.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
Astronauts get first look inside space station’s new inflatable module
Reuters (6/6): NASA’s Jeff Williams and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka became the first International Space Station crew members to enter the Bigelow Expandable Activities Module early Monday. Launched aboard the most recent NASA contracted re-supply mission to the space station in early April, the reinforced fabric BEAM enclosure was expanded by 4 1/2 times with air pressure on May 26-28 by Williams, working with NASA’s Mission Control and Bigelow engineers. The module is a prototype for future deep space habitats for astronauts assigned to missions in lunar orbit, to Mars and stays on planetary surfaces. Astronauts living and working aboard future commercial space stations in Earth orbit may find shelter in something similar as well. BEAM is to remain berthed to the Station’s Tranquility module for two years, while experts monitor its responses to temperature, radiation, micrometeoroids and orbital debris.
Patricia Grace Smith, former head of FAA space office, passes away
Space News (6/6): The former head of the FAA’s Office of Commercial Spaceflight passed away from pancreatic cancer. Smith, who retired in 2008, was a force for the growth of the U.S. commercial launch industry.
Suborbital
Suborbital research makes a comeback
The Space Review (6/6): The Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference reconvened in Broomfield, Colo., the Denver suburb, last week after a three year hiatus, suggesting a resurgence in interest in suborbital spaceflight as a valuable instrument for space science. The idea first emerged along with the promise of space tourism with the Ansari X-Prize, which was captured by the SpaceShipOne team in 2004. Blue Origin’s recent successes with the development of the New Shepard reusable suborbital launch vehicle appears to be spurring a new round of enthusiasm for more than suborbital space tourism, notes TSR editor Jeff Foust.