In Today’s Deep Space Extra… NASA’s Orion crew exploration capsule completes parachute recovery system development testing. Charles D. Walker’s opinion on NASA vs. private missions to Mars, and more.

Human Deep Space Exploration

NASA completes Orion parachute development tests
Space Daily (1/15): NASA announces the completion of development testing for the parachute recovery system for the Orion crew exploration vehicle at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. The latest test evaluated higher than expected inflation loads after a capsule simulator was released from an U.S. Air Force C-17 transport flying at 30,000 feet. The 11 parachutes in the recovery system are to begin a three year period of qualification testing in July.

Charles D. Walker: Don’t relinquish all space exploration to private firms
Arizona Daily Star (1/16): In 1984-85, Walker represented U.S. industry on three NASA space shuttle missions in a bid to develop new medications. In a guest column, he suggests that growing enthusiasm for commercial space may not be enough to take humans all the way to Mars. “…as much as I support the private space industry, experience and common sense tell me that a commercial Mars human landing won’t ever get off the ground not unless NASA goes there first,” notes Walker. “Businesses are slaves to short-term balance sheets, and private space-industry investors and shareholders are notoriously risk-averse. Even wealthy entrepreneurs won’t throw their money away.”

Moon village is best way to replace International Space Station – ESA head
Reuters (1/15): European Space Agency Director General Jan Woerner outlined a vision for replacing the International Space Station, when it is eventually taken out of service, with a lunar “village” of structures made by robots and 3D printers that use moon dust as a building material. Woerner elaborated on his maturing proposal Friday during a presentation in Paris. Currently, the space station’s partner nations expect to extend their operations from 2020 to 2024, though Europe is still pondering the move.

Reusable 
Air and Space Magazine (1/15): Rocket re-use may offer its greatest benefits to vehicles based in cis-lunar space and developed to shuttle to and from the surface of the moon, using propellants mined from the lunar resources, writes lunar scientist Paul Spudis. Spudis traces recent strides in rocket landing technologies back to single-stage-to-orbit research by the U.S. Department of Defense with the Delta Clipper. The economies of re-use, vehicle stress and refurbishment, have yet to be demonstrated, he notes.

New Russian manned spacecraft to be called Federation
TASS, or Russia (1/15): The “Federation” name tag will adorn the four person successor to Russia’s three seat Soyuz spacecraft, according to the Roscosmos State Corporation. Federation is expected to play a role in Russia’s lunar exploration plans as well as International Space Station operations.

Unmanned Deep Space Exploration

Europeans ask Russia to develop nuclear weapon against asteroids
TASS, of Russia (1/16): An international scientific community, led by the European Union, will look to Russia for the nuclear explosives needed for a possible defense to prevent an asteroid from striking the Earth.

Low Earth Orbit

Spacewalk terminated due to spacesuit water leak
Spaceflightnow.com (1/15): NASA’s Mission Control called an early end to a planned 6 1/2 hour spacewalk outside the International Space Station by U.S. and British astronauts Tim Kopra and Tim Peake on Friday. The decision came in response to the appearance of water in the helmet of the NASA space suit worn by Kopra. The incident was reminiscent of a July 2013 spacewalk outside the Space Station in which European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano’s helmet filled with more than a liter of water from the cooling system. Kopra and Peake did manage to replace an external voltage regulator on the Space Station that restored a solar power channel.

ESA members give space agency an 18-percent budget boost 
Space News (1/15): The European Space Agency’s 2016 spending of 5.25 billion Euros, or the equivalent of $5.71 billion U.S., represents growth of more than 18 percent. Additional monies are coming primarily from the European Commission and Italy to back the Galileo satellite navigation fleet, Copernicus Earth observation program and Vega rocket development. ESA alone has yet to commit to an extension of International Space Station operations. The joint European/Russian ExoMars missions face financial challenges.

Astronaut Scott Kelly shares ‘space flower’ photos
Orlando Sentinel (1/17):  Aboard the International Space Station a Zinnia flowers, and commander Scott Kelly shares a photo. As recently as December, the plants, part of NASA’s Veggie experiment, were suffering from mold. Scientists on the ground helped to guide Kelly to a remedy.

Commercial to Low Earth Orbit

Jason-3 satellite launched to orbit successfully on Falcon 9, booster landing unsuccessful
Spaceflight Insider (1/17): Jason-3, a satellite developed by NOAA to monitor the Earth’s oceans and the role they play in weather and climate from polar orbit, was successfully launched Sunday afternoon from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.  Another 17 days of spacecraft maneuvers will be required to reach the intended orbital position. Launch services provider SpaceX attempted to land the first stage of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle atop a barge in the Pacific Ocean. However, one of three landing legs on the stage failed to extend properly, and the stage toppled.

Belarusian communications satellite launched from China
Spaceflightnow.com (1/15): China on Friday placed the first communications satellite for Belarus in Earth orbit.

Suborbital

Reader view: Spaceport America moving full speed ahead
Santa Fe New Mexican (1/16): Spaceport America, nearing its seventh anniversary, has reached a significant transition period as the launch complex moves from a bond to an operations revenue supported facility, writes CEO Christine Anderson. The spaceport has generated 2,000 jobs so far and counts 6,000 visitors since June.

Major Space Related Activities for the Week

Major space related activities for the week of January 17-22, 2016
Spacepolicyonline.com (1/17): The U.S. Senate will be in session, a day after Martin Luther King Day, a U.S. federal holiday on Monday. NASA and NOAA plan climate and weather discussions this week.