In Today’s Deep Space Extra… NASA is building and testing hardware needed to backup plans to resume human deep space exploration

Human Deep Space Exploration

NASA already described its plan for reaching Mars. Now it showed us the hardware

Yahoo! Tech (9/4): Opportunities to visit NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans and the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi reveal advances in hardware development for the agency’s strategy to reach Mars with humans in the 2030s.

Space Science

10 Things to Know About NASA’s Mission to Taste an Asteroid

National Geographic (9/7): Scheduled for launch late Thursday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., NASA’s Osiris-Rex mission spacecraft is designed to collect samples of soil from the asteroid Bennu and return the material to Earth for analysis. Liftoff is scheduled for Thursday at 7:05 p.m., ET.

Touching an Asteroid: The Science Behind NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Mission

Space.com (9/7): Samples of the near-Earth asteroid Bennu gathered by NASA’s Osiris-Rex spacecraft could improve our understanding of the materials that formed the Earth and fostered the emergence of life. The findings could apply to other planets as well.

Live coverage: Thursday’s Atlas 5 countdown and launch journal

Spaceflightnow.com (9/8): The space website will post updates on Osiris-Rex launch preparations throughout the day. Liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., is set for Thursday at 7:05 p.m., ET.

Newly Discovered Asteroid has a close encounter with Earth

Universe Today (9/7): NASA’s Osiris-Rex mission is poised to launch late Thursday to the near-Earth asteroid Bennu. Just days before the liftoff, the small asteroid 2016 RB1 passed close to the Earth. The miss distance was 23,900 miles. The asteroid, discovered Sept. 5, measured between 24 and 52 feet wide.

World’s largest radio telescope to be commissioned late Sept.

Xinhua, of China (9/7): China is prepared to debut the world’s largest radio telescope this month. At 500 meters width, the new Aperture Spherical Telescope, dwarfs its closest contender in Puerto Rico.

Are Aliens Talking To Us?

Science (9/7): Deep space signals detected in Russia had experts pondering whether they originated with an intelligent race. The excitement, however, was dashed when the source turned out to be an aging Russian military satellite.

Low Earth Orbit

What are the long-term health effects of living in space? NASA is studying twins Mark and Scott Kelly to find out

Los Angeles Times (9/7): NASA’s twins study could reveal changes to humans working in a low gravity space environment that were too subtle to recognize previously. The subjects are retired NASA astronaut twins Scott and Mark Kelly. Scott returned to Earth on Mar. 1, after a U.S. record-setting 340 days in space. Scientists are comparing Scott and Mark down to the genetic level in order to help prepare future astronauts for month’s to year’s long missions to deep space destinations.

Astronauts and ‘Star Trek’: How a TV Show Inspired Real Space Travelers

Space.com (9/7): The visionary 1960s TV series that featured a star ship, the Enterprise, a strong leader in its Capt. James T. Kirk, and a crew with diverse backgrounds inspired some of NASA’s future astronauts. Recent International Space Station crew member Terry Virts found a way to pay tribute to the late actor Leonard Nimoy, who portrayed Spock, Star Trek’s human/Vulcan science officer.

Commercial to Low Earth Orbit

Blue Origin could bring long-dormant launchpad to life

Orlando Sentinel (9/8): Blue Origin, the company headed by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, makes construction plans at a long-dormant Cape Canaveral Air Force Station launch pad in Central Florida. Rocket test and launch activities are anticipated, according to permit filings.

Op-ed | Falcon 9 incident illuminates ripples in space community pond

Space News (9/7): “SpaceX has a business to run, as do the commercial customers in its backlog of missions. In business today, agility is key, so rapid recovery and moving on from this incident is paramount,” writes James M. Knauf, chair of the AIAA’s Space Transportation Technical Committee, and a retired U.S. Air Force colonel. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded on the launch pad early Sept. 1 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., as it was being fueled for a pre-launch test of the first stage engines. The loss included an Israeli communications satellite.