In Today’s Deep Space Extra… Texas lawmakers remain influential in shaping U.S. civil space policy in the new Congress.
Human Deep Space Exploration
Spacepolicyonline.com (1/10): The New Year brings a new U.S. Congress. In the U.S. House, Houston congressman John Culberson remains as chair of the Commerce-Justice-Science subcommittee that oversees NASA and NOAA, as well as the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, of Houston, will continue to chair the Senate’s Science, Space and Competitiveness Subcommittee. In the House, U.S. Representative Lamar Smith, of San Antonio, continues as chair of the Science, Space and Technology Committee.
Huge NASA rocket test stand constructed in 2.5 years | Time-lapse video
Space.com (1/10): Video offers the latest on the lengthy construction of a NASA Marshall Space Center test stand to help prepare the Space Launch System rocket for its first test flight in late 2018. SLS is a cornerstone of U.S. efforts to reach the Mars environs with human explorers in the 2030s.
Kennedy Space Center aims to attract ‘Mars Generation’
Orlando Sentinel (1/10): The recently upgraded Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is focused on inspiring the Mars generation. Opening later this year, the Astronaut Training Experience, will offer audiences a chance to experience the training for future travel to the red planet.
Space Science
NASA Earth science director expects short-term budget stability
Space News (1/10): Michael Freilich, who directs NASA’s Earth Sciences division, foresees little financial change for the program in 2017, a year of White House transition. Freilich addressed the independent NASA Advisory Council’s science committee at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday.
Life’s building blocks have been mapped throughout the Milky Way
Seek.com (1/10): The chemistry required for biological activity is found in higher concentrations at the center of the Milky Way galaxy than the perimeter, according to observations conducted with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.
Study suggests Earth once had many moonlets until they merged to form the moon
Washington Post (1/11): Using new simulations, a team of Israeli researchers are proposing an alternative to the widely accepted theory of the moon’s birth – it was born of a collision between the Earth and another large planetary object early in the solar system’s history. Israeli experts show that the moon could be the product of the material chipped away from collisions between the Earth and twenty smaller bodies.
Venus scientists “just trying to hold on” after new NASA rejections
Ars Technica (1/10): As a destination, Venus lost out to a pair of asteroid missions in NASA’s latest selection of new planetary science initiatives. “…to be honest, it’s really galvanized me to change the perception of Venus,” said Robert Grimm, who leads the Southwest Research Institute’s Venus Exploration Advisory Group. Venus likely shared Earth-like qualities during the solar system’s earliest days. Then, it became too hot to be habitable.
Luxembourg’s bid to become the Silicon Valley of space mining
Wired News (1/10): Decades ago, the small European nation of Luxembourg saw an opportunity to capitalize in the growing field of satellite communications. The country’s leaders intend to follow-up their satcom successes with early support for asteroid mining.
Low Earth Orbit
Air Force’s mysterious X-37B space plane wings by 600 days in orbit
Space.com (1/10): Launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on May 20, 2015, the U.S. Air Force’s reusable X-37B winged space plane’s latest secretive orbital mission has stretched to 600 days, while closing in on a new flight record.
Astronauts Baker and Fossum retire from NASA
Spaceflight Insider (1/11): Long-time NASA astronauts Mike Fossum and Mike Baker announced their retirements from the space agency this week. Fossum’s work with NASA began in 1981 while detailed from the U.S. Air Force. He was selected for astronaut training in 1998. Baker, a U.S. Navy aviator, was selected by NASA for astronaut training in 1985.