In Today’s Deep Space Extra… Upper stage hardware for the first test flight of NASA’s Space Launch System exploration rocket has reached the Marshall Space Flight Center for testing. Exploration Mission 1, planned for late 2018, will send an uncrewed Orion capsule around the moon and back to Earth.
Human Deep Space Exploration
SLS upper stage test article arrives at NASA Marshall
Spaceflight Insider (6/21): The structural test article for the Boeing developed Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage has reached NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, where it is to undergo loads testing later this year. The ICPS will serve as the upper stage for the first test launch of NASA’s Space Launch System exploration rocket in late 2018. The uncrewed test flight, Exploration Mission-1, is to take the Orion crew capsule around the moon and back to Earth for an ocean splashdown and recovery.
Space Science
New Horizons finds clues of an ocean on Pluto
Seeker (6/21): Distant Pluto’s surface activity hints at the possibility of a subsurface ocean. The prospect is described in a science paper published in Geophysical Research Letters and based on numerical simulations of Pluto’s geological history.
Cassini’s final mission – obliteration
New York Times (6/22): The long running Cassini mission to giant Saturn will come to an end next year as the spacecraft makes a destructive plunge into the ringed planet’s atmosphere. The demise is designed to prevent Saturn’s moons from being exposed to any spacecraft contamination. A joint effort by NASA and the European Space Agency, Cassini has been orbiting Saturn since 2004. Findings suggest that some of the moons may have habitable environments that experts do not want to alter.
‘Electric wind’ stripped Venus of oxygen
Cosmos (6/21): Scientists have found evidence that planet Venus, the Earth’s twin in some ways, may have lost its oxygen due to an electric wind. The findings come from the European Space Agency’s Venus Express mission. They suggest that planets with atmospheres are surrounded by a weak electric field that over time helps to push the upper layers of the atmosphere into space. The findings, reported in the Geophysical Research Letters, could be a factor in the search for life elsewhere in the universe.
Astronaut in space snaps dramatic photo of the full moon caught in a sunset
Mashable (6/21): NASA’s Jeff Williams snapped a photo of the full moon Tuesday. The International Space Station was 250 miles over Western China at the time. This month’s full moon coincided with the official start of summer in the northern hemisphere. NASA’s Williams became commander of Expedition 48 aboard the space station on Saturday.
Green comet thrills amateur astronomer
Space.com (6/21): Comet 252P/LINEAR glows green in an image taken by Ohio amateur photographer John Chumack in April. The comet was discovered in April 2000. Comet 252P/LINEAR joined a second comet, BA14, for a close Earth flyby.
Low Earth Orbit
Atlantic Council experts argue for new “proactive prevention” national security space strategy
Spacepolicyonline.com (6/21): Working through the Atlantic Council, two space security experts urge a more proactive stance on national space security policy in the future. Their assessment is based in part on a 2013 Chinese anti-satellite test that reached geosynchronous orbit, the realm of the some of the nation’s most crucial national security spacecraft.
Scientists anxious to watch space junk’s plunge to Earth
USA Today (6/21): Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft, cornerstone of the latest NASA contracted re-supply mission to the International Space Station, is set to make a destructive re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere early Wednesday. Recorders on board and scientists aboard a research aircraft intend to gather data to study the event. Cygnus, loaded with space station trash, departed the six person orbital lab on June 14.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
Aerojet Rocketdyne move to El Segundo adds to SoCal’s growing aerospace community
Los Angeles Times (6/21): Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc., will move from California’s capital in Sacramento to the Los Angeles area, relocating corporate headquarters in El Segundo. Aerojet spokesman Glenn Mahone cited a closer proximity to Southern California clients, including Boeing and Raytheon, as the primary reason for the move.
India’s PSLV blasts off with 20 satellites
Spaceflightnow.com (6/22): An Indian Space Research Organization Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle took flight late Tuesday U.S. time with 20 satellites, many of them small sats. The payload represented spacecraft from five countries, including the U.S.
Amazon’s Jeff Bezos wins Heinlein Prize for space commercialization at Blue Origin
Geek Wire (6/21): Jeff Bezos, founder of Blue Origin, was named recipient of the 2016 Heinlein Prize for his efforts to commercialize space. The prize serves as a tribute to the late science fiction writer Robert Heinlein.