In Today’s Deep Space Extra… Republican presidential front-runner praises NASA, says funding depends on the mission.
Human Deep Space Exploration
Trump praises NASA, but dodges funding questions in AIAA Q&A
Spacepolicyonline.com (5/3): An AIAA check on the presidential candidate’s views on NASA’s Mars exploration agenda appear conditional when it comes to Republican front runner Don Trump. In brief, Trump said that NASA “has been one of the most important agencies in the United States government for most of my lifetime” and he wants it to remain that way. But in response to a question about whether the United States is spending the proper amount of money on NASA, he demurred: “I am not sure that is the right question. What we spend on NASA should be appropriate for what we are asking them to do. … Our first priority is to restore a strong economic base to this country. Then, we can have a discussion about spending.”
Guest column: Louisiana is contributing in the mission to Mars
The Advocate, of Baton Rouge, La., (5/3): Louisiana’s workforce and other resources are crucial in NASA’s efforts to reach Mars with human explorers, explains Todd May, director of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans is a key assembly facility for the Space Launch System exploration rocket and the Orion crew capsule. Orion and SLS are scheduled to launch together for the first time on an uncrewed test flight planned for late 2018. Orion will fly around the moon and return to Earth over a three week mission.
Space Science
Mars 2020 rover: How NASA will look for life with a shoestring budget (+video)
Christian Science Monitor (5/3): NASA’s successor to Curiosity, the rover that landed on Mars in 2012, will have a demanding list of tasks. Among them, the Mars 2020 rover will gather and cache soil and rock samples for an eventual return to Earth, either robotically or by visiting U.S. astronauts. The 2020 rover will be developed for less than half the cost for Curiosity.
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx set for 7-year trip to Asteroid Bennu and back
Orlando Sentinel (5/3): Developed for NASA by Lockheed Martin, OSIRIS-REx is a spacecraft designed to travel to the asteroid Bennu, remain close for extensive scrutiny, then touchdown briefly to grab a sample before returning to Earth. OSIRIS-REx is scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 on Sept. 8.
What’s up in space?
Spaceweather.com (5/3): The annual eta Aquarid meteor shower, whose origins are Halley’s Comet, is about to peak. Under ideal viewing conditions, spectators may see as many as 30 meteors or more per hour May Thursday and Friday.
Scientists hit pay dirt in drilling of dinosaur-killing impact crater
Science (5/3): Scientists succeed in digging up samples from deep below the surface of the vast Chicxulub crater, site of a cataclysmic asteroid impact 66 million years ago. The excavation is the first for granite bedrock from deep below the sea floor. Scientists hope to learn more about the aftermath of the global catastrophe blamed for contributing to the extinction of the dinosaurs and much of life on Earth.
LIGO gravitational wave researchers to divide $3 million
New York Times (5/3): An international team of more than 1,000 scientists will share $3 million in prizes for their efforts to prove the existence of gravitational waves, a phenomena predicted by the 20th century physicist Albert Einstein. Russian businessman Yuri Milner provided the prize money.
Low Earth Orbit
Tim Peake: ‘Science can solve planet Earth’s problems’
BBC, of England (5/3): European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake spoke with news media in his native England on Tuesday. Peake endorsed the research underway aboard the International Space Station as an invaluable part of the solving the world’s problems.
Genes in space student experiment probes astronaut DNA
Space.com (5/3): Seventeen-year-old student scientist Anna-Sophia Boguraev could be among the first to demonstrate technologies capable of performing DNA analysis aboard the International Space Station. Her experiment, which reached the ISS on April 10, is focused on genetic changes to immune systems in space. Samples from her experiments are slated to return to Earth on May 11.
Coronagraph, star shade could assist imaging of Earth-like planets
Spaceflight Insider (5/3): Two technologies, the coronagraph and star shade, contribute to the search for Earth like planets by blocking the central star light for observatories involved in the search for much fainter planetary objects. Both are expected to be ready for missions within the next decade.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
Barbara Mikulski at Wallops: ‘May the force be with us
Delmarvanow.com (5/3): U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski paid tribute Tuesday to NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s eastern shore. After a long career in the U.S. Senate as a key player in the appropriations process, the Maryland lawmaker is retiring at the end of this year.