In Today’s Deep Space Extra… President will sign a new space policy directive today on the 45th anniversary of Apollo 17, the last human mission to the moon. Apollo 17’s Harrison Schmitt urges a new era of human deep space exploration. NASA honors America’s first black astronaut on the 50th anniversary of his death. NASA’s New Horizons mission refines its course toward a January 1, 2019 Kuiper Belt Object flyby.
Human Space Exploration
President to sign space policy directive today
Space News (12/11): President Donald Trump is scheduled to sign his administration’s first space policy directive in a White House ceremony at 3:00 p.m. today. The event will coincide with the 45th anniversary of the last crewed mission to land on the moon. The Apollo 17 lunar lander touched down on the moon on December 11, 1972. (NOTE: The Coalition will be represented at the signing ceremony and will issue a statement today at 3:45 p.m.)
Q & A with Apollo 17’s Jack Schmitt: Remembering the past, looking to the future
Space.com (12/7): Apollo 17, NASA’s final human mission to the lunar surface, unfolded 45 years ago this month. Harrison Schmitt, a geologist and the only scientist/NASA astronaut to participate in the six Apollo missions that landed on the moon, explains his enthusiasm for a resurgence of human deep space exploration. He’s optimistic that can happen with an investor based approach, one that would seek out resources of value to Earth and of value in furthering a human expansion deeper into space.
First black astronaut honored on 50th anniversary of death
Associated Press via New York Times (12/8): U.S. Air Force Major Robert Lawrence, the nation’s first black astronaut, was honored Friday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The gathering marked the 50th anniversary of his death in an F-104 plane crash. Lawrence was selected by the U.S. military to be part of the Manned Orbiting Laboratory program, which was cancelled before it flew. However, those at the memorial said Lawrence had he lived would have gone on to participate in NASA missions.
Tiny space-debris detector will fly to Station this week
Space.com (12/10): A one meter square detector designed to sit outside the International Space Station’s European Space Agency Columbus module is designed to measure small micrometeoroid and manmade debris striking the orbiting science lab, including direction and velocity. Too small to be tracked from the ground, these materials can pose a threat to satellites as well as orbiting habitats because of their high velocity. The detector will launch aboard the 13th NASA contracted SpaceX resupply mission planned for launch to the Space Station on Tuesday.
Space Science
New Horizons corrects its course in the Kuiper belt
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab (12/9): After the first ever flyby of distant Pluto in July 2015, NASA’s still active New Horizons mission spacecraft carried out a 2 1/2 minute maneuver on Saturday to refine its course toward its next destination, 2014 MU69, a Kuiper Belt object.. The Mu69 flyby is planned for January 1, 2019.
Green light for continued operations of ESA science missions
European Space Agency (12/7): During a Paris meeting last week, ESA’s Science Program Committee approved extensions for five planetary science/astronomy missions: Gaia, a star surveyor; INTEGRAL, a high energy observatory; Mars Express, a red planet orbiter; SOHO, a solar observatory; and XMM-Newton, an X-ray observatory. Continued participation in international missions was granted as well: the NASA led Hubble Space Telescope and Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) and the Japanese led Hinode mission, a solar observatory.
Partly cloudy skies are raising hopes for one gem of a Geminid meteor shower
GeekWire.com (12/8): The night of December 13-14 will mark the peak of this year’s best meteor shower, the Geminids. A waning crescent moon is expected to help make the meteor display especially bright.
Other News
Blue Origin plans New Shepard flight next week
Parabolic Arc (12/9): An FAA Notice to Airmen suggests that Blue Origin is prepared to carry out daylight New Shepard suborbital rocket test activities in West Texas this week.
The last Florida launch of 2017 marks several firsts for SpaceX and NASA
Florida Today (12/10): The launch Tuesday of SpaceX’s 13th NASA contracted resupply mission to the International Space Station is to include the reuse of a previously flown Falcon 9 first stage in combination with a previously flown Dragon cargo capsule.
Rocket Lab scrubs launch 6 minutes into window; may try again today
Stuff Business Day (12/11): Rocket Lab postponed the launch of its second trial rocket until Tuesday after cancelling its launch on Monday afternoon. Rocket Lab spokeswoman Morgan Bailey said the launch was cancelled due a mix of atmospheric conditions and space traffic.
China launches Algerian communications satellite atop Long March 3B
Spaceflightinsider.com (12/10): Alcomsat-1, Algeria’s first geostationary telecommunications satellite, was launched atop a Chinese Long March 3B rocket on Sunday.
Humans would be cool with finding aliens
Space.com (12/7): Humanity might be quite comfortable after learning of the existence of life beyond Earth, according to an assessment from an Arizona State University psychologist.
Major Space Related Activities for the Week
Major space related activities for the week of December 11-15, 2017
Spacepolicyonline.com (12/10): An active week in space policy opens in Washington with a possible White House announcement marking the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 17 moon landing by the late Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt, on December 11, 1972. Their 12 day mission with the late Ron Evans returned to Earth on December 19. An International Space Station crew exchange kicks off with Thursday’s return to Earth of NASA’s Randy Bresnik, Italy’s Paolo Nespoli and Russia’s Sergei Ryazanskiy. NASA’s Scott Tingle, Japan’s Norishige Kanai and Russia’s Anton Shkaplerov are to replace them with a Russian Soyuz rocket launch from Kazakhstan early December 17. SpaceX’s 13th NASA contracted re-supply mission to the ISS is to launch Tuesday from Cape Canaveral, Florida, just before an address in Washington from NASA’s acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot that is to look ahead to 2018 and summarize the agency’s highlights of 2017. NASA plans a Kepler space telescope briefing on Thursday. The U.S. House and Senate are in session, with another budget continuing resolution deadline looming on December 22.