In Today’s Deep Space Extra… NASA Administrator Bill Nelson will testify on the agency’s FY2022 budget proposal before the U.S. House Science, Space, and Technology Committee today. Lockheed Martin has been selected to build the aeroshell for NASA’s next Mars lander.
Human Space Exploration
Nelson to Newsmax: NASA needs $5B infrastructure infusion for planned missions
Newsmax (6/22): In an interview with Newsmax, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson expressed hope for $5 billion from the Biden Administration’s infrastructure bill to support the agency’s Moon and Mars exploration initiatives. The infrastructure money would be in addition to NASA’s $24.8 billion budget request for 2022. Nelson will testify before the U.S. House Science, Space, and Technology Committee on the agency’s budget at 10 a.m. EDT. The hearing will be broadcast live on NASA TV and streamed at www.nasa.gov/nasalive.
Starliner capsule fueled for unpiloted test flight to International Space Station
Coalition Members in the News – Boeing, Lockheed Martin, United Launch Alliance
Spceflightnow.com (6/22): Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft has been fueled with its hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide maneuvering propellants in preparation for its uncrewed test flight to the International Space Station (ISS) on July 30. If the test flight goes according to plan, it will clear the way for Boeing’s Starliner to launch astronauts to the ISS atop an Atlas V rocket, possibly before the end of this year. That would lead to certification from NASA for Boeing to become a second commercial provider of regularly scheduled transportation of astronauts to the orbiting science lab.
Space Science
Lockheed Martin to build aeroshell for NASA’s next Mars lander
Coalition Member in the News – Lockheed Martin
Inceptive Mind (6/23): Lockheed Martin has been selected by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to build the aeroshell for the Mars Sample Retrieval Lander. The aeroshell will protect the spacecraft through its landing sequence on Mars. The lander will retrieve samples of Martian soil taken by the Perseverance rover as part of a planned joint NASA/ESA Mars Sample Return mission.
Venus lacks plate tectonics, but it has something much more quirky
Deccan Herald (6/23): New missions planned to neighboring Venus, NASA’s VERITAS and the European Space Agency’s (ESA) EnVision, will attempt to define the difference and similarities between geophysical activity on the Earth and on Venus. Though intensely hot with a toxic atmosphere, Venus may once have been more Earth-like. While apparently absent the plate tectonics of the Earth, Venus may instead possess a variation of tectonics that shaped its now cloud covered surface, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
China’s Moon rocks are ready to be loaned out for science research
Space.com (6/22): China is considering requests from international researchers who wish to study samples of lunar material returned to Earth in December by the country’s 23-day Chang’e 5 lunar sample return mission.
Other News
Tide partners with NASA to create detergent for astronauts and help save water on Earth
CNBC (6/22): Working under a NASA Space Act Agreement, Proctor and Gamble plans to conduct research aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to assess how its Tide detergent might be modified to wash the clothes and other fabrics used by astronauts on long missions to the Moon and Mars. Company officials believe studies slated to get underway in 2022 will also help to conserve water as clothes are washed on Earth.
EU and ESA proclaim “fresh start” in space cooperation
SpaceNews.com (6/23): In a ceremony June 22, the European Commission and the European Space Agency (ESA) signed the long-delayed Financial Framework Partnership Agreement (FFPA), which governs how the two parties will work together in programs in Earth observation and navigation satellites. The revamp in ESA/EU partnerships is important in order to remain competitive given larger government investments in space by countries like China and the United States, said both organizations.