In Today’s Deep Space Extra… NASA’s astronauts find water an essential training ground for future space missions.
Human Deep Space Exploration
Take the plunge: Former astronaut talks about NASA’s NBL
Spaceflight Insider (1/30): NASA’s Johnson Space Center operates the agency’s Sonny Carter Neutral Buoyancy Lab (NBL), a large swimming pool in which astronauts and those who support them train and prepare for spacewalks and in-space spacecraft assembly activities. More recently, the NBL is playing a role in the training of personnel involved in the ocean recovery of Orion astronauts after they splashdown upon their return from deep space missions. Former astronaut Nicole Stott explains the significance of the unique training facility.
Three principles to constructively engage China in outer space security
The Space Review (1/30): Shared concerns include the critical value of space to the U.S., China and other nations in terms of national and economic security. The U.S. can influence the course ahead by emphasizing the peaceful uses of space, while protecting its space assets. However, reassessing the approaches of the past two administrations could be a challenge for the Trump White House.
Space Science
Under pressure: Why spaceflight is so hard on astronauts’ eyes
Space.com (1/30): Researchers hone in on the possible cause of vision changes in astronauts who spend months living aboard the International Space Station. In some cases permanent, the changes that blur vision create an impediment to future human deep space exploration. The absence of a wake/sleep cycle in which the human body stands and reclines over a 24-hour period could be a factor. One remedy might be for astronauts to wear a lower body negative pressure device that lowers forces on the back of the eyeball for several hours a day.
NASA watchdog warns Mars 2020 Rover could miss its launch date
Seeker (1/30): NASA’s inspector general cautioned Monday that the agency’s $2.4 billion Mars 2020 rover mission could miss its constrained launch date because of difficulties in maturing mission technologies. One of the rover’s functions would test whether oxygen can be extracted from the planet’s carbon dioxide atmosphere, a possible resource for future human explorers. Another would cache samples of Martian rock and soil for eventual return to Earth. A delay in the planned July 2020 launch could cost more than $800 million, according to the IG’s audit.
Bursts of methane may have prepped ancient Mars for life
Seeker (1/30): Methane gas releases may have played a crucial role in the temperatures on Mars that were warmer in the past than the modern era. Working in concert with carbon dioxide and hydrogen, the methane may have absorbed enough solar radiation to allow water in a liquid state on the planet’s surface.
Cassini offers best-ever view of Saturn’s rings
Spaceflightnow.com (1/30): The long-running NASA-led Cassini mission to Saturn is approaching its conclusion later this year. Monday night, NASA released new images from Cassini of Saturn’s ring system, revealing their intricacies in new detail.
Hunting dark matter with GPS data
Science (1/30): The U.S. Global Positioning Satellite system has found yet another role, helping scientists unravel the mysteries of dark matter, the material whose gravitational forces helps to hold the universe together.
Low Earth Orbit
Why the U.S. and Russia should work together to clean up orbital debris
The Space Review (1/30): Despite terrestrial U.S. and Russian tensions over a range of issues, there could be some common ground in the valuable real estate called low Earth orbit. The two countries responsible for seeding the region with manmade orbital debris could cooperate in finding ways to clear up the buildup, writes Al Anzaldua and Dave Dunlop, a pair of space policy veterans.
Oxygen atoms from Earth bombard the moon
Science News (1/30): Kaguya, a Japanese lunar-orbiting satellite, has detected traces of oxygen from the Earth’s upper atmosphere bombarding the lunar surface for a few days each month. The oxygen particles are propelled along in part by the Earth’s magnetic field.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
Aerojet Rocketdyne hiring 100 to build new rocket engine in Alabama
Huntsville Times (1/30): Aerojet Rocketdyne announced plans Monday to assemble the company’s new ARI rocket engine in Huntsville, Alabama. The engine is intended to replace imports of Russia’s RD-180 rocket engine. The production plans included one hundred new jobs in Huntsville, home to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.
Intelsat satellite in service after overcoming engine trouble
Spaceflightnow.com (1/30): Intelsat’s most recent communication satellite entered service on Sunday, weeks later than planned. The feat was achieved using backup low thrust engines after difficulties with the primary satellite thrusters surfaced following an August 24 launch atop an Ariane 5 rocket.