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.

Russia's workhorse capsule Soyuz is currently the only way to get humans to the ISS and back.  Granted Elon Musk and SpaceX plan to change that very soon.  Nonetheless, for the time being Soyuz is it.   In light of it's proud 45-year history, and with NASA's recent retiring of the Shuttle program, in many ways the Soyuz can be seen as the "last man standing."  Space.com have complied an infographic explaining the Soyuz system in detail.

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

Photographic evidence from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) show signs of stretching and contracting of the lunar surface.  These suprising findings demonstrate that the moon is not a as geologically static as once thought.  The moon isn't just a solid chunk of rock orbiting around the Earth.

Tom Watters from the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Centre for Earth and Planetary Studies notes "The moon is actually expanding or stretching and being pulled apart in some small areas and by a little bit."

Parallel faults are caused by this stretching, forming valleys or "graben" visible to the LRO.  

In indepth discussion of this lunar evolution can be found at NASA's LRO website.

Photo courtesy of NASA LRO.

Astronaut Don Pettit demonstrates the new zero-g cup developed on the International Space Station.  Using capillary technology, Pettit has developed an open-topped cup that holds liquid in zero gravity.  This design allows for astronauts to drink out of the cup without a straw and without gravity to hold the liquid in the container.  

This same technology is used in rocket engines to ensure continual fuel flow in zero-g.  So I guess Bistro-ISS is officially open for business.  There have been no official reports of testing with carbonated alcohol in orbit as of yet.  I guess they are still waiting for the pint-sized prototype. 

Video courtesy of Physics Central APS.

This week marks the 50th anniversary of John Glenn's historic orbit of Earth.  In 1962 Glenn, onboard the Friendship 7 craft, became the first American to enter orbit.  He circled the planet three times in less than five hours.  This achievement, through the Mercury Program, paved the way for America's successful space program; eventually reaching the moon and building the International Space Station.

To celebrate the occasion, Senator John Glenn spoke with astronauts aboard the International Space Station via video link.  This event was hosted by NASA's Future Forum at The Ohio State University located at Columbus Ohio.

Video courtesy of NASA.

Stephen Colbert has always had a passion for space exploration.  His most recent PSA posted on the NASA website, urges his followers in the Colbert Nation to support NASA's work on the International Space Station to develop alterate vaccines to diseases which have been developing resistance to traditional antibiotics.

Colbert is no stranger to space technology.  In 2009 he entered a competion to name a new node of the ISS.  Colbert won after encouraging his fans to vote for the node to be named "Colbert."  Although he technically won the competition, NASA untimatley decided not to name it after the pundit, and christened the new node "Tranquility" instead.  As a conslation prize, NASA named a new piece of excerise equipoment on the ISS as the C.O.L.B.E.R.T. treadmill.  The acronym stands for Combined Operational Load-bearing External Resistance Treadmill.

Beyond the ISS node naming incident, back in 2008 Colbert ventured to save humanity by having his DNA sent into orbit.  A digitized version of Colbert's genetic code was sent to the ISS with space-tourist and video game designer Richard Garriott.  Colbert referred to this as an "Immortality Drive."  Garriott acknowledged that the preservation of Colbert's DNA would allow aliens to one day clone him and save humanity, "is there a better person for us to turn to for this high-level responsibility?" 

Video courtesy of NASA.