Russian and US Engineers Plan Manned
Moon Mission (Source: Space Daily)
Engineers in Russia and the US are completing a plan for a
collaborative space program. The initiative would preserve the
multinational alliance developed when the International Space Station
(ISS) was initiated in 1993. Both American and Russian organizations
are considering ways to return to space together, as long as the
political relationship between the two nations doesn't deteriorate. The
countries had been preparing to part ways after the ISS ceases
operation in 2024.
NASA is developing its Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System
(SLS), a super-heavy rocket to be used for manned missions into space,
possibly as far as Mars. NASA is also giving funds to companies like
SpaceX to make excursions into orbit with reusable rockets.
A few years ago, the European Space Agency, (ESA) joined with NASA in a
maintenance agreement to service the Orion propulsion module. But
Russia, the second largest contributor to ISS, hasn't made any
commitments beyond the time when its current obligations to the station
are complete. (7/21)
Sorry, Eileen Collins: Here’s Why
America is Already Great in Space (Source: Ars Technica)
Why would Eileen Collins jump into the political fray, many asked? And
for Donald Trump, of all people? Like a lot of astronauts, Collins
comes from a military background (she's a USAF colonel) and is
therefore more likely to be conservative politically. Perhaps she had
discussions with Trump people and they endorsed her view that NASA
should return to the Moon before going to Mars. But what most
interested—and ultimately disappointed—me was Collins' time-worn, Cold
War-era perception about NASA and what really makes America's efforts
in space great.
In some respects NASA has never been better. Its Solar System
exploration program, multiple rovers on Mars, new mission to Jupiter,
and recent flyby of Pluto are things the rest of the world cannot begin
to match. But NASA presently lacks the funding to execute its Mars
plan, and a Trump administration would need to pump a lot of money into
a government program some have criticized as a "socialist plan" for
space exploration.
Here's what Collins really missed on Wednesday night, however. Yes,
NASA relies on Russia. But within a couple of years, the country will
have not one, but two commercial vehicles providing rides to the space
station from US soil, manufactured by SpaceX and Boeing. Despite the
bleak picture Collins painted on stage in Cleveland, there is an
incredible vibrancy in the US launch industry that the rest of the
world is scrambling to catch up to. NASA isn't driving this push to
build modern, low-cost rockets—all-American capitalism is. Click here.
(7/21)
NASA May Build Instrument for Japan's
Hitomi Replacement (Source: Space News)
NASA is considering building a replacement for an instrument lost on a
Japanese X-ray astronomy satellite earlier this year that could fly on
another Japanese spacecraft. Paul Hertz, director of NASA’s
astrophysics division, said the Japanese space agency JAXA has
approached NASA about contributing a copy of its Soft X-Ray
Spectrometer (SXS) for a new version of Japan’s Hitomi spacecraft.
(7/21)
Embry-Riddle Student/Graduate is the
2016 Student of the Year (Source: ERAU)
Passion, tenacity and drive are qualities used to describe Bailey
Eaton, the Florida Association of Employers and Colleges’ 2016 Student
of the Year. While earning her bachelor’s degree in Aerospace
Engineering at Embry’s Riddle’s Daytona Beach campus, Eaton was seen a
student role model who mentored her peers and completed five
internships that have helped her launch a career at The Boeing Company.
(7/21)
The Sad Story of Laika, the First Dog
Launched Into Orbit (Source: Smarticle)
For many years, the Soviet Union gave conflicting statements that Laika
had died either from asphyxia, when the batteries failed, or that she
had been euthanized. In 2002, Dimitri Malashenkov, one of the
scientists behind the Sputnik 2 mission, revealed that Laika had died
by the fourth circuit of flight from overheating. According to a paper
he presented to the World Space Congress inHouston, Texas, “It turned
out that it was practically impossible to create a reliable temperature
control system in such limited time constraints.” (7/21)
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