The Mars Curiosity Rover has an electrical problem. So far the “soft short” doesn’t appear to be too serious but it dise reduce the level of robustness and tolerance for future problems. Operations with the rover are currently suspended while NASA JPL engineers attempt to diagnose the problem and determine if there is anything that can be done about it.
Space policy roundup – Nov.22.13 [Update]
The Obama administration released their official national space transportation policy document yesterday:
- National Space Transportation Policy – The White House (pdf)
- New national space transportation policy makes modest, not major, changes – Space Politics
- Commercial Spaceflight Federation Hails Innovative National Space Transportation Policy – CSF
- U.S. Issues New Space-Transportation Policy – WSJ.com
Yet more space policy/politics links:
- Inspiration Mars and Dennis Tito at House Hearin:
- JFK space race myth: Dear NASA, President Kennedy just wasn’t that into you. – Rand Simberg/USA Today
- China’s 1st Moon Lander May Cause Trouble for NASA Lunar Dust Mission – Space.com
Update:
Video: Asteroid Initiative Workshop – Grand Challenge Panel Part 1
Here’s another video of presentations at the recent NASA workshop on proposals for asteroid missions:
NASA TV coverage of the Grand Challenge panel session of the NASA-hosted public workshop at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston to examine 96 of the ideas submitted to the recent Request For Information on ways to accomplish the agency’s asteroid initiative.
Space policy roundup – Nov.21.13
Some space policy/politics items:
- Tito Now Wants NASA Funding for Inspiration Mars – Here’s NASA’s Response – SpacePolicyOnline.com
- Inspiration Mars pivots, seeks government support and backing – Space Politics
- Inspiration Mars – Transterrestrial Musings
- The Commercial Spaceflight Federation Supports S. 1753 to Extend Government-Industry Risk-Sharing Regime – CSF
- House, Senate introducing separate launch indemnification extension bills – Space Politics
- Bipartisan Bill Extends Liability Protection | Committee on Science – U.S. House of Representatives
- We Haven’t Won Yet on Export Control Reforms – Breaking Defense
- JFK legacy to states: Space industry jobs – USA Today
Here’s a video, courtesy Stephen C. Smith, of yesterday’s House Science Subcommittee hearing on commercial space:
ESA Video: Guide to our Galaxy
ESA released this video Guide to our Galaxy:
Caption:
This virtual journey shows the different components that make up our home galaxy, the Milky Way, which contains about a hundred billion stars.
It starts at the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way and with the stars that orbit around it, before zooming out through the central Galactic Bulge, which hosts about ten billion stars.
The journey continues through a younger population of stars in the stellar disc, home to most of the Milky Way’s stars, and which is embedded in a slightly larger gaseous disc. Stars in the disc are arranged in a spiral arm pattern and orbit the centre of the Galaxy.
The discs and bulge are embedded in the stellar halo, a spherical structure that consists of a large number of globular clusters – the oldest population of stars in the Galaxy – as well as many isolated stars. An even larger halo of invisible dark matter is inferred by its gravitational effect on the motions of stars in the Galaxy.
Looking at a face-on view of the Galaxy we see the position of our Sun, located at a distance of about 26 000 light-years from the Galactic Centre.
Finally, the extent of the stellar survey conducted by ESA’s Hipparcos mission is shown, which surveyed more than 100 000 stars up to 300 light-years away from the Sun. In comparison, ESA’s Gaia survey will study one billion stars out to 30 000 light-years away.