NASA Exploring Mars Sample Return Options

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): One of the sample return canisters on the surface of Mars. (NASA)

With the pending budget cuts at NASA, the space agency is exploring new options for getting soil and rock samples back to Earth from MARs. To do this, NASA is setting it sights on 10 studies to identify new approaches to accomplish this mission, 7 of which come from private contractors and the other 3 from NASA centers, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, and Johns Hopkins’ Applied Physics Laboratory.

The seven private sector parties of interest and related proposals from earlier this year are as follows:

  • Lockheed Martin in Littleton, Colorado: “Lockheed Martin Rapid Mission Design Studies for Mars Sample Return”
  • SpaceX in Hawthorne, California: “Enabling Mars Sample Return With Starship”
  • Aerojet Rocketdyne in Huntsville, Alabama: “A High-Performance Liquid Mars Ascent Vehicle, Using Highly Reliable and Mature Propulsion Technologies, to Improve Program Affordability and Schedule”
  • Blue Origin in Kent, Washington: “Leveraging Artemis for Mars Sample Return”
  • Quantum Space in Rockville, Maryland: “Quantum Anchor Leg Mars Sample Return Study”
  • Northrop Grumman in Elkton, Maryland: “High TRL MAV Propulsion Trades and Concept Design for MSR Rapid Mission Design”
  • Whittinghill Aerospace in Camarillo, California: “A Rapid Design Study for the MSR Single Stage Mars Ascent Vehicle”

It is not clear why such a review needed to wait until so late in the game. NASA is always facing budget crunches. Maybe this can be a model for other ventures in the future as well.

Video: Cool Worlds Labs Emphasizes the Need for Greater NASA Funding

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): A graphic explaining the various instruments on the Chandra X-ray Observatory. (NASA)

Even with a good space week in hand, we still need to keep an eye on NASA’s budget to maintain a robust set of programs to explore the cosmos. A recent Youtube video by Cool Worlds Labs, “NASA’s in Trouble,” highlights those budgetary issues and focuses on what individuals can do as well, such as visiting https://www.savechandra.org/ and asking Congress to restore funds cut from the Chandra X-ray Observatory.

Professor David Kipping makes it clear he is not going to remain silent while these cuts are being considered. He and his team demonstrate their love for astronomy in every video and podcast, making them great ambassadors in this debate for continued NASA funding.

The video is forthright about the internal issues creating budgetary issues. For example, the considerable cost overruns and delays prior to the launch of the now successful James Webb Space Telescope came at a cost to other NASA programs over many years. And similar overruns are expected with future large projects as well, further squeezing other line items in the budget.

The video also highlights some promising developments that could help to lower costs in the future, though the issue on the table now is NASA’s FY 2025 budget.

View the video for yourself to learn more about the proposed budget cuts as well as what you can do to help.

RIP: Bill Anders, Apollo 8 Astronaut

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The Earth and Moon as captured by Apollo 8 in 1968. (NASA)

This week Apollo astronaut Bill Anders, age 90, passed away. He died during a plane crash in Washington state.

He was part of an Apollo team that was the first humans to leave low Earth orbit in 1968. He was best known for his Christmas Eve photo of the Earth rising over the surface of the Moon (shown above).

Born in Hong Kong on October 17, 1933, he would graduate from the Naval Academy in 1955, obtain a masters in nuclear engineering, and then serve as a fighter pilot in the US Air Force. In 1964, he was selected by NASA to be an astronaut, serving as a backup pilot for both the Gemini XI and Apollo 11 flights, and most famously serving as lunar module pilot for Apollo 8.

Regarding his “Earthrise” image, Mr. Anders said:

The only color that we could see and contrasted by this really unfriendly, stark lunar horizon, made me think, ‘You know, we really live on a beautiful little planet.’

You can watch a NASA video on Mr. Stafford’s accomplishments here as well as more information on his life here.

You can also read more on Mr. Anders’ life and career at these sites:

Rest in peace.

Image (Credit): The Apollo 8 Crew (left to right) Frank Borman, commander; William Anders, Lunar Module Pilot; and James Lovell, Command Module pilot pose in front of the Apollo mission simulator during training. (NASA)

Successful Launch of the CST-100 Starliner

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Image (Credit): The launch of Boeing’s Starliner earlier today from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner launched earlier today (June 5) on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are now safe in orbit on their way to the International Space Station (ISS). They will dock at the ISS tomorrow afternoon.

Boeing’s Starliner is the second graduate from NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which also includes SpaceX.

You can read more about the Starliner mission and upcoming events at this NASA site.

Update: The two astronauts arrived safely at the ISS safely on Thursday (June 6), though there were some issues with the Starliner’s thrusters.

Image (Credit): Logo for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. (NASA)

Space News: Extending Hubble’s Life, Another Step for the Habitable Worlds Observatory, and Asteroid Breakups

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope on April 25, 1990 from the space shuttle Discovery. (NASA/Smithsonian Institution/Lockheed Corporation)

Here are some recent stories of interest.

—NPR: “Hubble will Change How it Points, But NASA Says ‘Great Science’ will Continue“

The Hubble Space Telescope is suffering the kinds of aches and pains that can come with being old, and NASA officials say they’re shifting into a new way of pointing the telescope in order to work around a piece of hardware that’s become intolerably glitchy. Officials also announced that, for now, they’ve decided not to pursue a plan put forward by a wealthy private astronaut who wanted to go to Hubble in a SpaceX capsule, in a mission aimed at extending the telescope’s lifespan by boosting it up into a higher orbit and perhaps even adding new technology to enhance its operations.

—NASA: “NASA Awards Advance Technologies for Future Habitable Worlds Mission“

NASA announced Friday it selected three industry proposals to help develop technologies for future large space telescopes and plan for the agency’s Habitable Worlds Observatory mission concept, which could be the first space telescope designed to search for life outside our solar system. The mission would directly image Earth-like planets around stars like our Sun and study their atmospheres for the chemical signatures of life, as well as enable other investigations about our solar system and universe. NASA is currently in the early planning stages for this mission concept, with community-wide working groups exploring its fundamental science goals and how best to pursue them. The agency is also in the process of establishing a Habitable Worlds Observatory Technology Maturation project office at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

—Southwest Research Institute: “Flyby of Asteroid Dinkinesh Reveals a Surprisingly Complex History“

When NASA’s Lucy spacecraft flew past the tiny main belt asteroid Dinkinesh last November, the Southwest Research Institute-led mission discovered a trough and ridge structure on the main asteroid as well as the first-ever-encountered contact binary satellite. The flyby data of this half-mile-wide object revealed a dramatic history of sudden breakups and transformation. Scientists think a big chunk of Dinkinesh suddenly shifted, excavating the trough and flinging debris into its vicinity. Some materials fell back to the asteroid body, forming the ridge, while others coalesced to form a contact binary satellite known as Selam. The complex shapes show that Dinkinesh and Selam have significant internal strength and a complex, dynamic history.