In Today’s Deep Space Extra… Trump administration assigns first political appointees to NASA.
Human Deep Space Exploration
Renewed hope of a mission to Mars
The Hill (1/21): An assessment of space policy setting legislation in the U.S. House and Senate underscores bi-partisan support for the human exploration of Mars, a goal matched in aerospace corporate circles as well. “Unquestionably, current mission plans need more development if we are going to reach Mars in the 2030s. However, major decisions need to be made soon in order to accomplish this goal,” write Chris Carberry and Rick Zucker, of Explore Mars, Inc., in an op-ed.
Astronauts seek the right vibe in Orion tests
Houston Chronicle (1/20): Tests are underway at NASA’s Johnson Space Center to assess how the vibrations that accompany the launch of the Space Launch System will affect the ability of Orion astronauts to monitor the performance of their spacecraft in the early minutes of future missions of deep space exploration.
Trump administration assigns first political appointees to NASA
Space News (1/21): Erik Noble, previously a data analyst with NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, will serve as a White House senior advisor. Greg Autry, an assistant professor of entrepreneurship at the University of Southern California, will serve as White House liaison. Robert Lightfoot, previously NASA’s associate administrator and a government civil servant, will serve as acting administrator, following the departures last Friday of administrator Charles Bolden and deputy administrator Dava Newman.
Space Science
Beyond Pluto: NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft heads to next adventure
Space.com (1/22): New Horizons’ historic mid-July 2015 encounter with Pluto will not be its last with a distant Kuiper Belt object. The spacecraft is heading toward MU69, the largest of the KBOs and a 2014 discovery by astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope. 2014 MU69 lies a billion miles beyond Pluto. New Horizons will fly-by in January 2019.
China schedules Chang’e-5 lunar probe launch
Xinhuanet of China (1/22): China sets late November for the launch of its Chang’e 5 lunar mission. The robotic spacecraft is to land, gather lunar samples, ascend and return to Earth. Plans to send Chinese astronauts to the moon are also under discussion.
Spot a stellar ‘odd couple’ in the night sky this week
Space.com (1/21): The constellation Orion is prominent in the night sky, just hours after sunset. The star set includes two bright stalwarts, Rigel, now reaching its prime of life, and Betelgeuse, aging but still among the most luminous naked-eye stars.
Did the sun steal Planet 9 from another solar system?
Seeker.com (1/21): Planet 9, which is theorized to lurk deep in the solar system and exert a gravitational influence on several Kuiper Belt Objects, may have been kidnapped by the sun.
Low Earth Orbit
New satellites and new administration key topics of AMS meeting
Space News (1/22): The American Meteorological Society meets this week in Seattle. Plans for a new generation of weather satellites will be among the key topics, as well as plans for climate research under the Trump administration.
Atlas 5 rocket successfully delivers vital national asset into space
Spaceflightnow.com (1/21): United Launch Alliance successfully launched a U.S. Air Force missile warning satellite into orbit atop an Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on Friday night. It was the 140th successful Atlas program launch in a row over 23 years.
Major Space Related Activities for the Week
Major space related activities for the week of January 22-27, 2017
Spacepolicyonline.com (1/22): In Washington, the U.S. House and Senate are in session. Thursday, marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 1 fire that claimed the lives of NASA astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chafee during a countdown rehearsal. NASA’s Kennedy Space Center will honor the three men on Thursday.