In Today’s Deep Space Extra… NASA’s top human space exploration executive discusses the Moon and returning to the lunar surface with astronauts in 2024. Japan’s space agency receives top level praise for its asteroid sample return mission, Hayabusa 2. The U.S. House of Representatives passes legislation to protect heritage sites on the Moon.

 

Human Space Exploration

NASA’s Kathy Lueders discusses the Artemis 2024 Moon landing target and team selection
Techcrunch.com (12/17): TechCrunch this week hosted a virtual gathering including a session featuring Kathy Lueders, NASA’s Associate Administrator for human exploration and operations, where she discussed NASA’s goal of returning to the surface of the Moon with human explorers in 2024. “People get very fixated on 2024, because it is an important goal for us,” said Lueders. “But I also know that we’ll work through this carefully and will inform people of our progress along the way, just like we’ve done for every single other program out there. And we will fly when we’re ready to fly with the mission capability that we need to fly in a safe and effective manner.”

China plans to launch four manned spacecraft in next two years
Xinhuanet of China (12/17): The China National Space Administration (CNSA) plans to launch four crewed missions over the next two years as part of its space station assembly strategy, Wu Yanhua, the agency’s vice administrator, told a news briefing associated with the Chang’e 5 lunar sample return mission on Thursday. (Editor’s Note: Xinhuanet is the official state-run press agency of the Chinese government.)

 

Space Science

Hagiuda: Hayabusa2 capsule had 5.4g of samples
NHK of Japan (12/18): The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) Hayabusa 2 asteroid sample return mission delivered 5.4 grams of surface and subsurface material back to Earth from the asteroid Ryugu, far more than expected, according to Hagiuda Koichi, Japan’s science and technology minister. Launched on December 3, 2014, the mission reached the asteroid in late June 2018, landed twice in 2019 before returning to Earth to drop off its sample container into remote Australia on December 6.

Scientists think they’ve detected radio emissions from an alien world
Space.com (12/17): A Cornell University led research effort may have detected the first radio emissions from a planet orbiting a star beyond the solar system. The find emerged from a study of three different stars known to host exoplanets using a radar observatory in the Netherlands. The target, Tau Bootes 6, is about 51 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Boötes. The science team has called for further study.

A supermassive black hole is missing, NASA says
Futurism (12/17): NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory were used to take a look at the Abell 2261 Galaxy cluster, about 2.7 billion light years from Earth, in search of a suspected super massive black hole. The astronomy team was seeking one of the most massive black holes ever, but there’s no sign. The research effort hopes to use NASA’s future James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to take another look.

 

Opinion

Why is China going to the Moon?
The Diplomat (12/18): Namrata Goswami, a senior analyst and author specializing in space policy, offers perspective on China’s space ambitions as illustrated by the success of this month’s Chang’e 5 lunar sample return mission. China wishes to be the world’s 21st century space icon, but it’s primarily drawn to exploration of the Moon because of its resources. Those include water ice, which can be mined and processed into rocket propellants and serve as a life support resource; lunar helium 3 could be a non-radioactive, nuclear fusion reactor fuel source plus minerals including titanium metal.

 

Other News

House passes legislation to protect lunar heritage sites
Spacepolicyonline.com (12/17): Legislation intended to protect heritage sites on the Moon, among them the Apollo landing sites, cleared the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday. The House measure includes changes made to a Senate version, which means further deliberations will be required before it can go to the White House for signature. The emerging legislation also pays tribute to the many who worked to achieve Apollo, including the African American Hidden Figures. A separate House bill seeks to rename the NASA Glenn Research Center’s Plum Brook station in Sandusky, Ohio in honor of Apollo 11’s Neil Armstrong, an Ohio native and the first human to walk on the Moon. The name change has already cleared the Senate.

New ESA director general sees EU relations and commercialization as priorities
SpaceNews.com (12/17): The European Space Agency (ESA) has a new director general. Josef Aschbacher will succeed Jan Woeners, who’s held the post since July 1, 2015, at the end of June 2021 to start a four-year term. Aschbacher has been director of ESA’s Earth observation program and head of the agency’s Earth’s Space Research Institute, since 2016. ESA has long partnered with NASA on the International Space Station (ISS) and established similar relationships for the exploration of the Moon and Mars.

NASA names astronaut Reid Wiseman new chief of astronaut office
NASA (12/17): Wiseman, a U.S. Navy test pilot and veteran of a 165-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2014, has been named NASA chief of astronauts. He steps in for Pat Forrester, who has taken an extended leave of absence.

ISRO launches country’s 42nd communications satellite
The Hindu (12/17): The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on Thursday successfully launched its 42nd communications satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit.