In Today’s Deep Space Extra… Antarctic Mars simulation presents challenges to 13 participants. Findings from NASA’s Curiosity Rover suggest conditions in Mars Gale Crater may have been suitable for microbial activity for hundreds of millions of years.
Human Space Exploration
My year at ‘White Mars’ made me long to become an astronaut
Huffington Post (6/1): Isolation, lack of sleep, cold temperatures and interpersonal difference among 13 crew members were among the challenges that surfaced at White Mars, a French/Italian Mars mission simulation in the Antarctic, writes European medical researcher Beth Healey.
Space Science
Ancient Mars lake had multiple environments that might have supported life
Space.com (6/1): Mars may have hosted habitable environments for longer than once believed, according to findings gathered by NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover, which landed in the red planet’s near 100-mile-wide Gale Crater in 2012. Gale was once the site of a vast Martian lake. The life friendly, watery environment may have lasted from 3.8 to 3.1 billion years ago, according to scientists.
Third gravitational wave detection, from black-hole Merger 3 billion light years away
New York Times (6/1): Astronomers detect more evidence of the gravitational waves, or ripples in space/time, predicted by Einstein’s Theory of Relativity in the observed merger of two massive black holes three billion light years from Earth.
ISS and Low Earth Orbit
Lightning strike scrubs June 1 launch attempt for CRS-11 mission
Spaceflightinsider.com (6/1): Efforts to launch SpaceX’s 11th NASA contracted resupply mission to the International Space Station on Thursday were scrubbed by lightning and stormy weather. The launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center was re-scheduled for Saturday at 5:07 p.m., EDT. The Dragon cargo capsule is loaded with nearly 6,000 pounds of crew supplies, station hardware, and scientific experiments and research gear.
Astronauts struggle to sleep among the stars
CNN (6/1): Astronauts, according to researchers, are among those who struggle to get enough sleep. One factor may be the frequent setting and rising of the sun as they circle the Earth every 90 minutes.
Space News (6/2): An Arianespace Ariane 5 launch vehicle delivered two communications satellites, ViaSat-2 and Eutelsat 172B, to geosynchronous transfer orbits following liftoff from Kourou, French Guiana, on Thursday at 7:45 p.m., EDT. Operations had been delayed by recently resolved protests over standard of living and safety concerns in the region.
International Developments
Iran abandons its human spaceflight ambitions
Spacewatchme.com (6/1): Iran is backing off plans to initiate a human space exploration program by 2018, citing the high cost of the effort, according to reports that quote Mohammad Homayoun Sadr, the deputy head of the Iran Space Agency (ISA). The expense was estimated at $15-20 billion, U.S., over 15 years.
Other News
Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity makes 5th ‘glide flight’ (photos)
Space.com (6/1): Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo, also known as VSS Unity, was carried aloft by the WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft early Thursday and released for a glide flight and landing at the Mojave Air and Spaceport, California. Fueled and powered test flights could follow as the company continues to recover from a fatal October 31, 2014 accident.
Decatur gets 100 new jobs to start from RUAG Space
Huntsville Times of Alabama (5/31): RUAG, of Switzerland, announced plans to hire 100 workers for the assembly of rocket fairings to support its industrial neighbor, United Launch Alliance, in Decatur, Alabama.