In Today’s Deep Space Extra… History suggests NASA’s human spaceflight programs face disruption with changes in administration.
Human Deep Space Exploration
House bill would restructure NASA management to provide more stability
Space News (2/25): The proposed Space Leadership Preservation Act was a focus of a U.S. House Science, Space and Technology Committee hearing on Thursday. The legislation would alter the way NASA is managed by establishing a White House and Congressionally appointed board of directors that would select an administrator for a 10 year term and construct a budget, all in an effort to provide management stability. “We need to make this agency less political and more professional,” said U.S. Rep. John Culberson, the primary sponsor, who believes NASA’s human exploration efforts face disruption with the election of a new president in November. Culberson chairs the appropriations panel with jurisdiction over NASA’s budget.
Why ‘The Martian’ isn’t just the best picture of 2015, it’s the most important
Cinema Blend (2/25): The Martian, nominated for an Oscar, rises to most important film of 2016 because it’s bound to educate the future geniuses that are just grasping the concept of science right now, according to the publication. The film drama’s heroes are not athletes or superheroes. Instead, they are “geniuses with a sense of humor.” Actor Matt Damon plays Mark Whatney, a U.S. astronaut stranded alone on Mars but not ready to give up. Nor are his faraway crew mates. The award show airs Sunday.
‘Last Man on the Moon’ a stirring, true space tale
San Francisco Examiner (2/26): A new documentary, The Last Man on the Moon, tells the story of Gene Cernan, the NASA astronaut who led the final Apollo mission to the moon in 1972, and those closest to him. The production opened in U.S. theaters this week. Now 81, Cernan remains convinced Americans will return to the moon and venture deeper into space.
Test versions of SLS booster segments arrive at Kennedy Space Center
Colorado Space News (2/25): Pathfinder segments for the solid rocket boosters that will form part of NASA’s Space Launch System exploration rocket are headed by rail from production facilities in Utah to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where they will undergo testing in support of Exploration Mission-1. EM-1 is to be the first flight test of the SLS rocket with an uncrewed Orion capsule. The launch is planned for late 2018.
Space Science
Take in the beauty of Pluto’s frozen north pole canyons
Mashable (2/25): New imagery from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft feature craggy terrain and valleys at the north pole of Pluto. New Horizons accomplished the first flyby of distant Pluto on July 14 and is headed deeper onto the frontiers of the solar system.
Low Earth Orbit
Scott Kelly poised to set NASA record for consecutive days in space
New York Times (2/25): NASA’s marathon astronaut Scott Kelly, the current commander of the International Space Station, is due back on Earth late Tuesday, after 340 days, a U.S. record for a single mission. Kelly said he’s eager to return but feels physically and mentally fit. Kelly and Russian Mikhail Kornienko signed up for the long mission to help medical experts study the effects of long duration spaceflights on astronauts assigned to future deep space missions.
Astronaut Scott Kelly: ‘I could go another year’ aboard Space Station
Space.com (2/25): Though eager to return to Earth and reconnect with family and close friends, record setting NASA astronaut Scott Kelly says he could remain in orbit for another year if NASA asked him to. However, health researchers are eager to monitor Kelly and his Russian cosmonaut colleague Mikhail Kornienko was they re-acclimate to gravity after 340 days in orbit. They are to descend to Earth aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft onto the plains of remote Kazakhstan late Tuesday.