September 23, 2018

SpaceX Gives Us a Glimpse of its Mars Base Vision (Source: Engadget)
SpaceX chief Elon Musk has tweeted two photos that give us a peek into the company's Martian dreams. One of the images shows the BFR, the massive rocket SpaceX is developing for deep space missions, while the other shows the BFR and what he called "Mars Base Alpha." It's no secret that SpaceX wants to build a human settlement on the red planet. Back in 2017, it announced its plans to launch two BFR cargo missions to Mars by 2022 to prepare for the arrival of the first Martian settlers by 2024. Before any of that can happen, though, SpaceX has to be able to start testing its BFR system in the first half of 2019. Click here. (9/21)

They Made It! Japan's Two Hopping Rovers Successfully Land on Asteroid Ryugu (Source: Space.com)
The suspense is over: Two tiny hopping robots have successfully landed on an asteroid called Ryugu — and they've even sent back some wild postcards from their new home. The tiny rovers are part of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Hayabusa2 asteroid sample-return mission. Engineers with the agency deployed the robots early Friday (Sept. 21), but JAXA waited until today (Sep. 22) to confirm the operation was successful and both rovers made the landing safely.

The rovers are part of the MINERVA-II1 program, and are designed to hop along the asteroid's surface, taking photographs and gathering data. In fact, one of the initial images sent home by the hoppers is awfully blurry, since the robot snapped it while still on the go. In order to complete the deployment, the main spacecraft of the Hayabusa2 mission lowered itself carefully down toward the surface until it was just 180 feet (55 meters) up.

After the rovers were on their way, the spacecraft raised itself back up to its typical altitude of about 12.5 miles above the asteroid's surface (20 kilometers). The agency still has two more deployments yet to accomplish before it can rest easy: Hayabusa2 is scheduled to deploy a larger rover called MASCOT in October and another tiny hopper next year. (9/22)

How SpaceX's Huge 'BFR' Spaceship for Mars Has Changed (Source: NBC)
SpaceX's Mars-colonizing Big Falcon Rocket (BFR) spaceflight system just went through a growth spurt. The reusable rocket-spaceship duo will stand 387 feet (118 meters) tall at launch, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk said Monday (Sept. 17) during a webcast event at the company's headquarters in Hawthorne, California. That's 11 percent taller than the previous design iteration, which the billionaire entrepreneur laid out in September 2017. Click here. (9/22) https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/how-spacex-s-huge-bfr-spaceship-mars-has-changed-ncna912121

The Lunar Gateway: a Shortcut to Mars? (Source: The Guardian)
The proposed station, the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway – known as Gateway – will allow astronauts to develop techniques that will open up the lunar surface to exploration and exploitation. At the same time, the station will help humans hone survival skills in deep space in preparation for future manned missions to Mars, says NASA.

Taking part in the station’s construction would cost Europe more than £1bn and a decision on whether to become involved will be taken at a meeting of European science ministers next year. If ministers give the go-ahead, the European Space Agency – of which Britain is a key member – would then join other international partners that Nasa is recruiting to its Gateway project. These include the space agencies of Russia, Canada and Japan.

“Essentially, Gateway will be a robotic outpost that will be visited by groups of astronauts – initially for weeks and then for months at a time,” says David Parker, director of human spaceflight and robotic exploration for ESA and a keen supporter of the project. “They will learn how to survive in deep space and deal with problems such as radiation and meteorites. At the same time they will also direct robot craft that will explore the moon’s surface.” Click here. (9/22)

Russia Throws Doubt on Joint Lunar Space Station with U.S. (Source: Reuters)
Moscow may abandon a project to build a space station in lunar orbit in partnership with U.S. space agency NASA because it does not want a “second fiddle role,” a Russian official said on Saturday. Russia agreed last year to work with NASA on plans for the moon-orbiting Deep Space Gateway, which will serve as a staging post for future missions.

But the head of Russian space agency Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, said Russia might exit the joint program and instead propose its own lunar orbit space station project. “The Russian Federation cannot afford to play the second fiddle role in it,” he was quoted as saying by the RIA news agency, without much further elaboration. A spokesman for Roscosmos said later that Russia had no immediate plans to leave the project. Editor's Note: China, meanwhile, says it will focus on establishing a lunar surface base. (9/22)

Japanese Cargo Ship Launches Toward Space Station (Source: Space.com)
A robotic Japanese resupply ship has launched toward the International Space Station (ISS), kicking off a five-day orbital chase. The HTV-7 freighter — which is loaded with more than 5 tons of science gear, food, fuel and other supplies — lifted off atop an H-II rocket from Japan's Tanegashima Space Center today (Sep. 22). If all goes according to plan, HTV-7 will arrive at the orbiting lab early Thursday morning (Sep. 27), NASA officials said. (9/22)