In Today’s Deep Space Extra… Three U.S. and Russian International Space Station (ISS) crew members returned safely to Earth late Wednesday. OSIRIS-REx is expected to have collected enough material at Bennu. A U.S. Senate bill would transfer civil space traffic management responsibilities from the Department of Defense to the Department of Commerce.

 

Human Space Exploration

Soyuz brings three Space Station fliers back to Earth
Spaceflightnow.com (10/22): NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner returned safely to Earth late Wednesday aboard their Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft to end a 196-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Their capsule landed under parachute in Kazakhstan at 10:54 p.m., EDT.

 

Space Science

Scientists thrilled with first look at asteroid sampler in action
Coalition Member in the News – Lockheed Martin 
Spaceflightnow.com (10/21): The first images sent back to Earth by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft after briefly landing on asteroid Bennu raised expectations Wednesday that the probe collected enough samples to meet the mission’s minimum requirement for return to Earth. However, it will take another week for the team to have a reasonably precise estimate of how much material OSIRIS-REx captured during its Touch-and-Go landing.

NASA gives sneak peek at a future lab for studying asteroid 
SlashGear (10/20): NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) is building a laboratory that will be used to study the samples collected by the OSIRIS-REx mission at asteroid Bennu this week. NASA’s Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science division, also known as ARES, will manage the lab.

Opinion

State senator: Space exploration begins at New Orleans’ own Michoud
Coalition Member in the News – Boeing
The Advocate (10/21): NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility has a legacy of service manufacturing vehicles that moved the nation forward, such as the Saturn V Rocket in the 1960s and NASA’s space shuttle, says Louisiana State Senator Sharon Hewitt. Today, Michoud continues its work with NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), poised to deliver the first woman and next man to the Moon as part of the Artemis program.

 

Other News

Wicker introduces bill to codify commerce’s role in space situational awareness
Spacepolicyonline.com (10/21): Legislation introduced Wednesday by U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss), chair of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, would transfer civil space traffic management responsibilities from the Department of Defense to the Department of Commerce (DoC). The Space Preservation and Conjunction Emergency (SPACE) Act seeks to codify Space Policy Directive-3 (SPD-3), issued in 2018.

Bipartisan group of lawmakers launches House Space Force caucus
SpaceNews.com (10/21): The U.S. House has formed a bipartisan caucus to advocate on behalf of the U.S. Space Force, the latest branch of the U.S. military. Representatives Doug Lamborn, of Colorado, and Sandra Horn, of Oklahoma, will lead the caucus. The U.S. Senate took similar action last month.

Space Force eyes orbiting 3-D printers, satellite tow trucks
Coalition Member in the News – Made In Space
Defense One (10/07): The Pentagon is seeking ways to reduce the cost of getting to space. An option it is exploring is procuring 3-D printers in the near future to be put into orbit to help repair satellites or enhance their capabilities.