Space Fizz

NASA's proposed Mars InSight Lander will mine the deepest hole yet into the Red Planet; revealing the mysteries deep in the interior of Mars.  InSight (Interior exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) is set to launch in 2016.  It is based on the proven Phoenix Mars spacecraft and lander design with state-of-the-art avionics from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) missions in this artist rendition.  InSight will be able to drill as deep as 5 meters deep.

Could China be the next partner nation to join the International Space Station?  Current discussions in Quebec City at the ISS HOA (Heads Of Agencies) may suggest just that.  All five participating agencies: Canada, the United States, Russia, Japan, and the ESA, have all committed to supporting the ISS until 2020.  Yet these five agencies acknowledge there is somewhat of an open invitation for other countries to join.

Yesterday  Vladimir Popovkin, the head of the Russian Space agency, acknowledged "we are not a closed club, our doors are wide open."  Popovkin went on to suggest that one day countries lik China and India would join the ISS team.  

Jean-Jacques Dordain, head of the European body, said he hopes the International Space Station partnership would be open, adding it would benefit from co-operation with China.

"I am in favour of seeing how we can work together with China," he told reporters after the meeting in Quebec City. "It will take some steps, but it will come, I am sure."

NASA chief administrator Charles Bolden confirmed that the five partner agencies are "reaching out" to other non-traditional nations.

While the talks in Quebec are focussing on plans for the ISS up to the 2020 comittment date, Bolden did acknowledge that the sation itself should be viable until at least 2028.

These details were reported in an article published by the Canadian Press.  The full Canadian Press story has been attached below.

Photo Credit: CSA.

Perhaps the coolest yet, and certainly the most inspiring video we've seen from the guys over at NASA in a while.   It almost seeems like something out of a Michael Bay film.....tee hee hee (for all you Transfformer fans out there.)  If you don't get the joke, take a real close listen to the narrator. 

And just when we thought NASA was reduced to nothing more than budget cutting bureaucrats and number crunching, number crunchers; they go and submit this epic piece.  Once again NASA has proved to the world that they are cool.  Unlike the days of Apollo and Mercury, in today's society it is easy to forget, but space flight is our species greatest endeavor.  Thanks for the reminder - well done NASA.

"Autobots, roll out."

As the private sector ambitiously pursues earth orbit and beyond.  Here's a look at the last 50 years of human spaceflight.  Thanks to Space.com for the great infographic.

Source SPACE.com: All about our solar system, outer space and exploration

Earlier this month NASA reaffirmed both the support and necessity for commercial development of space programs. This was communicated through formal Release 12-045, calling for new commercial crew proposals. The initiative is being pursued by NASA's Commercial Crew and Cargo Program, also referred to as C3. Through commercial satelitte programs, as well as a private solution for ISS ferrying missions, the idea of NASA coordinating with commercial solutions has been around for a while. SpaceX already won a $1.6 billion dollar contract in December of 2008 for resupply and ferrying missions with the ISS. The first SpaceX mission is scheduled for later in 2012 with their Dragon platform. Although not a new idea, the formal release further substantiates their support for the development of commercial solutions in space.

A copy of the formal release is attached below.

Video courtesy of NASA C3.

Michael Braukus/J.D. Harrington 

Headquarters, Washington                                         

202-358-1979/5241 

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Candrea Thomas 
Kennedy Space Center, Fla. 
321-867-2468 

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RELEASE: 12-045

NASA CALLS FOR NEW COMMERCIAL CREW PROPOSALS

WASHINGTON -- As part of NASA's ongoing efforts to foster development 
of a U.S. commercial crew space transportation capability to and from 
low Earth orbit and the International Space Station, NASA has issued 
a call for industry to submit proposals for the Commercial Crew 
Integrated Capability Initiative. 

It's expected that proposals will lead to Space Act Agreements that 
will help NASA and the U.S. achieve safe, reliable, and cost 
effective human access to space. NASA expects to make multiple awards 
this summer, with values ranging from $300 - $500 million. 

To provide industry a better understanding of this initiative so that 
they may provide more comprehensive proposals, NASA plans a 
pre-proposal conference on Feb. 14, at the Courtyard Marriott in 
Cocoa Beach, Fla. Proposals are due March 23.