In Today’s Deep Space Extra… NASA preps to assess the brute strength of the Space Launch System exploration rocket.
Human Deep Space Exploration
NASA shows how close its SLS rocket is to getting a ‘fatal’ squeeze
Huntsville Times (11/15): Experts at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center are bringing first-stage components of the giant Space Launch System (SLS) exploration rocket together for a series of ground tests that will simulate launch like conditions. More than 50 different tests of the hardware will begin in January. SLS is a cornerstone of NASA’s plans to resume human deep space exploration with journeys to lunar orbit and Mars by the mid-2030s. The first launch of the SLS, Exploration Mission-1, is planned for late 2018.
My personal mission to (and for) Mars
Huffington Post (11/15): French actress Clementine Poidatz’s knowledge of and interest in the human exploration of Mars turned from indifference to passionate support. Poidatz is among the cast members of the National Geographic channel’s six-part Mars series about planning for the first human voyage to the red planet in 2033. “Many of my fellow cast members also discovered themselves as being passionate advocates for making humanity a multi-planet species,” she writes in an op-ed. “We all realized that this was not like an ordinary film project.”
Apollo 11 astronauts call on lawmakers to mint coins for moon landing 50th
Collectspace.com (11/15): With timely action by the U.S. House and Senate, the U.S. Mint could strike a coin commemorating the 50th anniversary of the July 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing. Surviving astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins have sent letters to lawmakers endorsing the idea. Legislative action is needed next month if the commemorative coins are to be struck by 2019. The historic mission was led by the late Neil Armstrong.
Luxembourg’s new space mining law is basically finders’ keepers
Inverse (11/14): Under Luxembourg’s legal system, prospectors can claim materials they mine from the surface of asteroids and other celestial bodies. Luxembourg is the first nation in Europe to embrace such a measure. The provisions are similar to the U.S. 2015 Space Act legislation.
Space Science
Leonid meteor shower peaks this week: Here’s what to expect
Space.com (11/15): What rivals a supermoon? A hearty meteor shower. The Leonids, an annual shower and among the best known, is not quite the Perseids or the Geminids of August and December. However, the Leonids are to peak early Thursday. Central and western North America should offer the best viewing for early risers.
A new prototype telescope proves itself worthy
Universe Today (11/15): In Sicily, astronomers are testing prototype optics and sensors for a powerful new ground based telescope for the detection of cosmic high energy gamma rays from black holes, rapidly spinning neutron stars and stellar explosions, some of the most energetic events in the universe. Astronauts intend to array the newly demonstrated telescope design into a ground-based observatory in Chili.
Low Earth Orbit
New satellite to give high-def look at U.S. weather
USA Today (11/15): NOAA’s GOES-R weather satellite, awaiting launch Saturday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, may change the way we view dangerous weather — from severe storms and blizzards to hurricanes. The satellite is designed to scan the entire Western Hemisphere in five minutes from its eventual perch in geosynchronous orbit.
China’s Shenzhou-11 crew set to return to Earth this week after record stay in space
GB Times, of Finland (11/15): China’s two-man Tiangong-2 orbiting space lab crew is expected to descend to Earth this week, possibly Friday morning or by Sunday. Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong launched October 17 to carry out experiments and technology demonstrations for the larger space station that China plans to assemble in Earth orbit beginning in 2018. Jing marked his 50th birthday aboard the Tiangong-2.
Commercial to Low Earth Orbit
Space and terrestrial industries to learn from each other at Houston’s SpaceCom conference
Houston Public Media (11/15): Houston’s second annual Space Commerce Conference and Exposition is drawing 2,000 investors, engineers and scientists eager to see how new technologies and scientific breakthroughs can advance energy, medicine and other professional endeavors as well as aerospace. “A lot of conferences are focusing on commercial space,” said NASA’s Steven Gonzalez, one of the organizers. “This is looking at the next step of that. What are the new markets? What are the new industries? What are the new opportunities that this growing industry is going to create, not just for the space industries but for those industries back here on Earth?” The three-day event runs through Thursday.
Teenage girls to launch Africa’s first private space satellite
CNN (11/16): Two Cape Town teenage girls are part of the force behind Africa’s first private sector satellite launch. Brittany Bull, 17, and Sesam Mngqengqiswa, 16, and their classmates teamed to design and build a satellite that will monitor African agriculture and future food supply. The project, assisted by Morehead State University in the U.S., should lead to a launch in May.