Archive for the ‘Space News’ Category
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November 12th, 2015
Artist’s view of unidentified flying debris over Sri Lanka.
Credit: Don Davis/copyright Don Davis/Used with permission.
Updated: Langbroek of SatTrackCam Leiden, the Netherlands reports that the first imagery is in of the re-entry of artificial object WT1190F south of Sri Lanka at 6:18 UT today, coming from a trans-Lunar orbit.
Imagery is from a research aircraft organized by UAE Space Agency, IAC, NASA, ESA.
Go to:
https://youtu.be/YJT-q8_dl88
Whatever it was – but tagged object WT1190F – turned into a fireball finale south of Sri Lanka.
The unknown object — estimated to be one to three meters in length, was discovered in 2013 by Arizona University’s Catalina Astronomical observatory.
The object was expected to enter the atmosphere and start its burnout in an area above the Indian Ocean off the southern coast of Sri Lanka at around 06:19 GMT on November 13.
Researchers at the time thought it should be possible to observe the end-of-life object with the naked eye, expected to be as bright and visible as the full moon in daylight.
Viewing campaign
The UAE Space Agency and the Abu Dhabi-based International Astronomy Center have announced that they are co-organizing a joint mission to observe and study the entry of the unknown object – what is believed to be a chunk of human-made space debris.
The United Arab Emirates is sponsoring an airborne observing campaign to study the entry of space debris object WT1190F. The International Astronomical Center (IAC) in Abu Dhabi and the United Arab Emirates Space Agency is hosting a team of veteran U.S. and German observers of spacecraft re-entries to study the space debris returning to Earth on an asteroid-like orbit near Sri Lanka on November 13, 2015.
Credit: ESA
According to the UAE Space Agency, the co-operative mission will include international scientists from NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), as well as scientists from a number of international space observatories.
The UAE mission involves a private aircraft that will be dispatched from Abu Dhabi on the morning of the entry event. The airplane will head to the site where the space object is expected to enter.
Small laboratory
The aircraft will remain airborne for approximately 30 minutes, while the team on-board will make their observations using special equipment before returning to Abu Dhabi.
The instrument teams onboard the aircraft are intent on observing the entry.
Credit: IAC/UAE Space Agency/NASA/ESA)
“After a day of hard work that saw the aircraft interior transformed into a small laboratory, over twenty cameras are now mounted and ready for deployment…so far, so good,” report the sky watching-ready scientists. “The weather could still make it challenging to position the aircraft at the right location in the right orientation to see the entry. Also, we hope that the object has enough mass and kinetic energy to see the entry in the daytime sky.”
Early warning and response
Explains HE Dr. Mohamed Nasser Al Ahbabi, Director General of the UAE Space Agency:
“The studies and data collected while this object enters the Earth’s atmosphere will be invaluable for our understanding of near Earth space objects movement and how they are affected by the various environmental factors. It will also represent an opportunity to validate strategies for how a global early warning and response system for space objects entering the Earth’s atmosphere can be managed and coordinated in the future.”
Fishing ban, no-fly zone
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defense in Sri Lanka has announced a “Fishing Ban” and a No-Fly-Zone in the Southern sea area and over the sky given the incoming space debris.
Credit: Bill Gray/Project Pluto
The space junk is expected to fall into the ocean about 65 kilometers to 100 kilometers off the southern coast of Sri Lanka.
“According to the scientific information, its mass is not sufficient to cause any threat to the area as it appears to be manmade and quite small. Possibly it could burn-up when it enters the Earth’s atmosphere and remains will fall into the sea,” notes the Ministry of Defense. “In accordance with the current scientific information, its mass is not sufficient to cause any threat to the area.”
The object could be a remaining piece from an early moon mission and is expected to fall around 11:48 a.m. local time.
The Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies in Sri Lanka is coordinating related sky fall duties with the SETI Institute in California.
Mystery object caught on camera.
Credit: Marco Langbroek of SatTrackCam Leiden in The Netherlands.
New images
Marco Langbroek of SatTrackCam Leiden in The Netherlands reports that the object is artificial and is in a geocentered orbit in the Earth-Moon system with apogee at twice the lunar distance.
“It is probably one to two meters large and evidently hardware from some, as yet unidentified, lunar mission,” Langbroek reports.
Langbroek has imaged the object and an animated GIF of the images can be seen here:
http://sattrackcam.blogspot.nl/2015/11/small-unusual-artificial-object-wt1190f.html
Posted in 
This view from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover shows a site with a network of prominent mineral veins below a cap rock ridge on lower Mount Sharp.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has surveyed prominent mineral veins at the site dubbed “Garden City” – features that vary in thickness and brightness.
For example, types of vein material evident in that area include: 1) thin, dark-toned fracture filling material; 2) thick, dark-toned vein material in large fractures; 3) light-toned vein material, which was deposited last.
Mineralized fractures
Mineral veins such as these observed by Curiosity form where fluids move through fractured rocks, depositing minerals in the fractures and affecting chemistry of the surrounding rock. In this case, the veins have been more resistant to erosion than the surrounding host rock, according to a Jet Propulsion Laboratory news release.
Researchers used the Mastcam and other instruments on Curiosity to study the structure and composition of mineral veins at Garden City, for information about fluids that deposited minerals in fractured rock there.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Researchers used the rover in March 2015 to examine the structure and composition of the crisscrossing veins at Garden City – a site that for geologists, offers a three-dimensional exposure of mineralized fractures in a geological setting called the Pahrump section of the Lower Murray Formation.
Still alive
Meanwhile, the veteran Opportunity rover continues to survey a different site on Mars.
NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Project landed twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity on Mars in 2004 to begin missions planned to last three months. Both rovers far exceeded those plans. Spirit worked for six years, and Opportunity is still active.
“Opportunity is currently on the southern side of Marathon Valley, on a north facing slope,” said Ray Arvidson of Washington University in Saint Louis. He is MER Deputy Principal Investigator.
Opportunity’s Navigation Camera took this image on Sol 4181.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
“For the past one-and-a-half weeks we have been mounting flash and downloading Pancam and Navcam images acquired of the Valley floor,” Arvidson said, “the last time we mounted and stored data in flash.”
This should all be done over the next few sols, Arvidson added, “and then we will go back into RAM mode, perhaps for the remainder of the winter campaign.”
Bright red veins
Winter solstice is on January 3, 2016, Arvidson told Inside Outer Space. “The current location is really interesting, with lots of outcrop on the southern wall, exposing dark rocks shot through with bright red veins and/or layers, likely alteration zones,” he said.
“We will explore these outcrops during the winter to put together, through a lot of detective work, what is carrying the smectite [clay minerals] signature we see from CRISM. I think the red zones are the key, but more to follow in a few months,” Arvidson said.
The Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) is an instrument on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), launched in 2005, with the primary objective to search for mineralogic evidence for past water on Mars.
Credit: DSI
Two U.S. space mining companies issued separate statements yesterday signaling their thumbs up thanks for Congressional legislation that enables the commercial exploration and use of space resources.
The U.S. Senate yesterday passed legislation — Title IV of S.1297, the U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitive Act of 2015.
This legislation promotes the right of U.S. citizens to engage in commercial exploration for, and commercial recovery of, space resources in accordance with international obligations and subject to supervision by the U.S. government.
Legal clarity
“We will be watching closely as this legislation makes it way from Congress to the White House and is signed into law by the President,” said Chris Lewicki, President and Chief Asteroid Miner of Planetary Resources, Inc. of Redmond, Washington.
Credit: Planetary Resources, Inc.
“We are pleased to see the beginnings of legal clarity in the field of space resource utilization,” said Rick Tumlinson, Chair of Deep Space Industries (DSI) of Moffett Field, California.
Owning asteroid resources
According to DSI, Title IV “will spur an influx of capital into the industry and encourage entities to further develop plans and technologies to extract minerals from the vast numbers of asteroids and other resource-rich bodies in the solar system.”
Lewicki of Planetary Resources noted that the U. S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act of 2015 “recognizes rights of U.S. citizens to own asteroid resources they obtain as property, encourages commercial exploration, and allows companies to explore and recover resources from asteroids, free from harmful interference.”
Bicameral, bipartisan bill
The passage of H.R. 2262, the U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act, a bicameral, bipartisan bill that encourages competitiveness, reflects the needs of a modern-day U.S. commercial space industry, and guarantees operation of the International Space Station until at least 2024.
The bill builds on key elements in S. 1297 that the Commerce Committee approved earlier this year and passed the Senate on August 4, 2015.
Extending life of the International Space Station.
Credit: NASA
Key provisions
The bill, in part, offers a number of provisions, such as:
Extends the Operation of the International Space Station
Provides a four-year extension of the International Space Station (ISS) until at least 2024 by directing the NASA Administrator to take all necessary steps to ensure the ISS remains a viable and productive facility capable of utilization including for scientific research and commercial applications.
Ensures Stability for Continued Development and Growth of the Commercial Space Sector
Provides an extension of the regulatory learning period through September 30, 2023 so that the commercial space sector can continue to mature and innovate before the Department of Transportation transitions to a regulatory approach. The current learning period expires on March 31, 2016.
Extends Indemnification for Commercial Launches
Extends through September 30, 2025 a key risk sharing provision in current law critical to keeping a level playing field in the global market for U.S. commercial space enterprises.
Identifies Appropriate Oversight for the Commercial Development of Space
Directs the Office of Science and Technology Policy, in consultation with the Department of Transportation, Secretary of State, NASA and other relevant Federal agencies, to assess and recommend approaches for oversight of commercial non-governmental activities conducted in space that would prioritize safety, utilize existing authorities, minimize burdens on industry, promote the U.S. commercial space sector, and meet U.S. obligations under international treaties.
Mining asteroid resources loom large in the future.
Courtesy: Texas A&M
Space Resource Exploration and Utilization (Asteroid Mining)
Establishes a legal right to resources a U.S. citizen may recover in space consistent with current law and international obligations of the United States. Directs the President to facilitate and promote the space resource exploration and recovery.
Updates Space Launch System
Provides a use policy for NASA’s heavy-lift rocket, the Space Launch System.
The European Space Agency’s Asteroid Impact Mission is joined by two triple-unit CubeSats to observe the impact of the NASA-led Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology (DART) probe with the secondary Didymos asteroid, planned for late 2022.
Credit: ESA – ScienceOffice.org
Work is progressing on a deep-space technology-demonstration mission that would also be the first probe to rendezvous with a double asteroid.
The Asteroid Impact Mission, or AIM, is undergoing detailed design ahead of a final go/no-go decision by the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Ministerial Council next year – in December 2016.
AIM is Europe’s contribution to a larger international undertaking called the Asteroid Impact & Deflection Assessment (AIDA) mission.
AIDA involves the U.S. Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) that would strike the smaller of the two Didymos asteroids, planned for late 2022.
Europe’s AIM would perform before-and-after monitoring duties to help chart any resulting orbital and structural shifts in the struck object.
CubeSat tasks
ESA has announced five CubeSat concepts have been selected and are under review to accompany the Asteroid Impact Mission.
The CubeSat ideas being looked at include taking a close-up look at the composition of the asteroid surface, measuring the gravity field, assessing the dust and ejecta plumes created during a collision, and landing a CubeSat on the body for seismic monitoring.
The main ESA AIM spacecraft would carry smaller probes within it: the Mascot-2 lander from the DLR German Aerospace Center, and an additional pair of triple-unit CubeSats.
The selected CubeSat proposals are to be funded by ESA for detailed study.
Asteroid Impact Mission, or AIM, networking with CubeSats
Credit: ESA – ScienceOffice.org
Low-cost interplanetary missions
CubeSat proposals that were chosen are:
- AGEX (Royal Observatory of Belgium, ISAE-SUPAERO, Antwerp Space, EMXYS, Asteroid Initiatives Ltd). A CubeSat touches down to assess the surface material, surface gravity, subsurface structure and of the DART impact effects. Another CubeSat in orbit deploys smaller “chipsats” dispersed over the asteroid.
- ASPECT (VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, University of Helsinki, Aalto University Foundation). A CubeSat equipped with a near-infrared spectrometer to assess the asteroid composition and effects of space weathering and metamorphic shock, as well as post-impact plume observations.
- DustCube (University of Vigo, Micos Engineering GmbH, University of Bologna). A CubeSat to measure the size, shape and concentration of fine dust ejected in the aftermath of the collision and its evolution over time.
- CUBATA (GMV, Sapienza University of Rome, INTA). Two CubeSats measure the asteroid system’s gravity field pre- and post-impact through Doppler tracking of CubeSats, as well as performing close range imaging of the impact event.
- PALS (Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Institute for Space Sciences IEEC, Royal Institute of Technology KTH, AAC Microtec, DLR). Two CubeSats characterize the magnetization, bulk chemical composition and presence of volatiles of the impact ejecta, as well as perform very high resolution imaging of the ejecta components.
CubeSat engagement in asteroid research is part of a larger space exploration initiative. ESA is applying current European technology miniaturization efforts to explore the Solar System in unprecedented ways, lowering the cost and risk of interplanetary missions.
Pilot Kelly Latimer
Credit: Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic announced today the appointment of female pilot, Kelly Latimer, as part of the company’s commercial operations team.
Latimer is a former combat veteran and retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and joins Virgin Galactic with extensive experience with heavy aircraft and as an experimental test pilot for NASA, Boeing, and the US Air Force.
“I have wanted to go to space ever since I can remember doing anything,” Latimer said in a Virgin Galactic press statement. “Flying is the tip of the iceberg: some the most meaningful work for me will be joining Virgin Galactic’s team with their incredible experience and organization to complete the vehicles’ design and test and setting up operations before the first flight. I’m thrilled that my test pilot experience has led me to Virgin Galactic and look forward to making access to space for everybody a reality,” she said.
Upcoming return to flight
Latimer was the first female research test pilot hired by NASA’s Dryden (now Armstrong) Flight Research Center. She conducted experimental flight test and test support on the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) 747SP, T-38, C-17, 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, BE200 and T-34 for various NASA research projects.
Latimer has logged more than 6,000 flight hours and more than 1,000 hours in test flight in over 30 aircraft.
Virgin Galactic’s Senior Vice President of Operations Mike Moses added that Latimer’s heavy aircraft and test pilot experience “make her well-suited for our upcoming return to flight. We look forward to Kelly’s contributions in what is sure to be a busy and exciting year ahead.”
In October 2014, there was an in-flight loss of VSS Enterprise, a SpaceShipTwo test mishap that killed co-pilot Michael Alsbury and seriously injured pilot Peter Siebold.
Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo is shown making a rocket-powered test flight on Jan. 10, 2014.
Credit: MarsScientific.com/Clay Center Observatory
Passenger manifest
Virgin Galactic is the world’s first commercial spaceline.
Founded by Sir Richard Branson and owned by the Virgin Group and Aabar Investments PJS, Virgin Galactic’s suborbital passenger list totals 700 men and women from over 50 countries—greater than the total number of humans who have ever been to space—all having reserved places to fly on Virgin Galactic’s reusable space launch system.
That system consists of carrier aircraft, WhiteKnightTwo and spacecraft, SpaceShipTwo.
SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo are manufactured and tested in Mojave, California, by its manufacturing wing, The Spaceship Company.
Spaceflight operations will be based at Spaceport America in New Mexico, the world’s first purpose-built commercial spaceport.
Credit:
Bob Sauls/XP4D
M. Wade Holler
Director, Digital Content and Media Strategy
Explore Mars, Inc.
Used with permission.
Explore Mars, Inc. has produced the first annual Humans to Mars Report (H2MR).
This report provides updates on challenges, plus progress in areas such as mission architecture design and development, scientific discoveries, policy, public perception, international cooperation and competition, and new private capabilities.
Analytical tool
As noted in the report’s introduction, authored by Chris Carberry, Chief Executive Officer of the group, and its President, Artemis Westenberg:
“We can expect new players to emerge and political, economic, and international variables to impact the trajectory of the pathway to Mars; still, it will be far easier to chart our path to Mars if there is an independent annual analysis of progress, challenges, and developments. The Humans to Mars Report will serve as this analytical tool.”
Mars myth
Phobos with the red planet Mars in the background.
Credit: M. Wade Holler
Director, Digital Content and Media Strategy
Explore Mars, Inc.
Used with permission
Among the report’s many recommendations:
— Dispel the $1 trillion myth: Human missions to Mars should only cost a fraction of this amount.
— Better story telling: NASA and the space community need to better explain a clear path to Mars and how current programs will advance that path.
This well written and useful report is enriched by a look forward over the next five years, as well as a detailed look at key elements to humans on Mars architecture. Lastly, a section examines public perception of Mars exploration and what factors influence that perception.
Credit: M. Wade Holler
Director, Digital Content and Media Strategy
Explore Mars, Inc.
Used with permission
Resources
To access this informative report, go to:
http://www.exploremars.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/HumansToMarsReport_i.pdf
While there, take a look at other items offered at:
Artwork: David Egge
Going up? Attention space elevator button pushers!
A feature-length documentary called Sky Line is being released this month, an impressive view that follows a group of scientists and entrepreneurs as egos collide in an attempt to reach for the stars.
The film, which centers on the real-life building of the once fantastical space elevator concept, will debut at DOC NYC 2015 – America’s largest documentary festival — and will be released on all major On Demand platforms on November 20th, 2015.
Historical note
In his 22nd century-set 1979 novel, The Fountains of Paradise, science fact/fiction writer, Arthur C. Clarke imagined an elevator connecting Earth with an orbiting satellite, eliminating the need for costly and environmentally destructive rockets. While scientists have considered such a project, they have been hampered by the lack of sufficiently advanced technology… until now.
Courtesy: Sky Line
“At its heart, Sky Line is a movie about chasing your dreams, and this was one of ours,” says director Miguel Drake-McLaughlin. “What drives a person to devote his life to pursuits that may take generations to achieve? We set out to answer that question when we first went to Seattle to begin filming the folks involved in the Space Elevator Conference. We didn’t have much of a plan, but we knew everyone had a story – and we found the people that became the backbone of this film.”
For several years, Drake-McLaughlin adds, the documentarians would revisit these eccentric and brilliant characters, resulting in Sky Line.
On demand platforms
With a running time of 74 minutes, Sky Line will be available on all major On Demand platforms, including Amazon Instant Video, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu, and Xbox, beginning on November 20th, 2015.
Sky Line is co-directed by Miguel Drake-Mclaughlin and Jonny Leahan, and executive produced by Robert Wood. The distribution deal was negotiated by Sam Scupp of FilmBuff – an award-winning full-service distribution company, with a focus on delivering high quality, compelling film and video to targeted audiences.
For a Sky Line trailer, go to:
For detailed information on the documentary, go to:
International Space Station.
Credit: NASA
In outer space everyone should hear you wash your hands!
It turns out that the International Space Station (ISS) is a factory for churning out microbes that make for an unhealthy work place.
The results of a new study provide “strong evidence” that specific human skin-associated microorganisms make a substantial contribution to the ISS microbiome – which is not the case in Earth-based cleanrooms.
NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, a flight engineer for Expedition 43 and a member of the one-year crew, is seen here inside the ISS Unity module.
Credit: NASA
Furthermore, the data gathered demonstrate the value of measuring viable cell diversity and population size at any sampling site. This research can be utilized to spot sites on the ISS that can be targeted for more stringent cleaning. Lastly, the new results permit comparisons with other built sites and facilitate future improvements on the ISS that will ensure astronaut health.
Filter and cleaner bag debris
The particulate samples analyzed during this study were gleaned from an ISS HEPA filter, as well as vacuum cleaner bag debris.
The ISS environmental control system includes a distributed ventilation system that contains HEPA filter elements to remove suspended particulate matter from the cabin atmosphere and protect humidity control and air purification equipment from debris accumulation and biofouling.
Flying on a vacuum cleaner. Every Saturday, ISS astronauts vacuum the filters and clean all surfaces.
Credit: ESA/NASA
The new assessment — Microbiomes of the dust particles collected from the International Space Station and Spacecraft Assembly Facilities — explores the environmental microbiome of the ISS as a closed environment.
The work has been published in the scientific journal, Microbiome, led by Aleksandra Checinska of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Biotechnology and Planetary Protection Group in Pasadena, California.
Microbial ecology
Key highlights of the research:
— As long-duration human missions are planned in the future, detection of human pathogens and possible mitigation practices must be developed. In addition, understanding of the ISS microbiome could facilitate the necessary maintenance of this closed habitat and thereby assist in preventing degradation of its components by some microorganisms.
— This study is the first to analyze samples from the ISS air and surface using traditional and state-of-the-art molecular techniques and assays to measure the abundance of microorganisms (i.e., live and dead cells).
— The microbial diversity of the ISS was compared with samples from JPL spacecraft assembly facility cleanrooms, which also represent closed and environmentally controlled built ecosystems.
— The safety and health of spaceflight crewmembers are of the highest importance for current and future missions. Individuals living and/or working in built environments are often susceptible to health issues associated with microorganisms. Moreover, the microbial ecology of ISS remains largely unknown, as study efforts have been mostly focused on microbiological surveillance using cultivation procedures.
Skin shedding
Credit: Checinska et al. Microbiome 2015 3:50 doi:10.1186/s40168-015-0116-3
As noted in the research, it has previously been observed that a high level of visible dust was found in the ISS Node 3 cabin, to the extent it was sticking to the walls. Flight surgeons indicated that this had been reported not just in Node 3 but also throughout the U.S. on-orbit segment and expressed a concern for crew health. Dust on the ISS is expected, with humans being major contributors (via skin shedding, eating, exercising, etc.). Other sources such as on-orbit maintenance activities can release dust from sources such as payloads and systems, clothing, and visiting vehicles.
Part of the new research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with NASA. This new work is expected to facilitate future studies to determine how stable the ISS environment is over time.
For an Open Access look at this research, wash your hands and then go to:
This image was taken by Curiosity’s Right B Navcam on November 3, 2015, Sol 1153.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
An issue with the Deep Space Network curtailed some Curiosity rover activity. In addition, the intentional “safe mode” status of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has meant less exchange between Earth and the Mars robot.
“Still, even with limited data we were able to put together a good plan,” notes Ryan Anderson, a planetary scientist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Recent planning “was a bit challenging,” Anderson reports, “because we only got a few Navcam images down to show us possible science targets, which limited our choices for ChemCam observations.”
Sand dunes ahead
On Sol 1155, the Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) was to observe the targets “Thermopolis” and “Pinckney” to get measurements of the typical bedrock and typical soil or sand in the area, plus a long-distance image of one of the sand dunes that the rover is approaching, Anderson adds.
Also, on tap, the rover’s Mastcam was set to take documentation images of those two ChemCam targets and the distant sand dune, plus a 13×3 mosaic of a nearby outcrop.
Following those duties, Curiosity was slated to drive and take standard post-drive images.
Looking for clouds
On Sol 1156, Anderson notes, several environmental and atmospheric measurements, including a couple Mastcam observations to measure the amount of dust in the atmosphere were on the books, as was making Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) observations, and a Navcam movie to look for clouds.
Lastly, the Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) also has a post-drive image of the ground under the rover.
“The weekend plan,” Anderson concludes, “looks like it will be focused on contact science, but we should be able to fit some ChemCam in there too!”
As always, projected dates of planned rover activities are subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.
Upcoming call for more NASA astronauts.
Credit: NASA
For all you wannabe astronauts, keep an eye out for NASA’s next call for space explorers!
The agency will accept applications from Dec. 14 through mid-February and expects to announce candidates selected in mid-2017. From pilots and engineers, to scientists and medical doctors, NASA selects qualified astronaut candidates from a diverse pool of U.S. citizens with a wide variety of backgrounds.
NASA has noted: “The next class of astronauts may fly on any of four different U.S. vessels during their careers: the International Space Station, two commercial crew spacecraft currently in development by U.S. companies, and NASA’s Orion deep-space exploration vehicle.”
To date, NASA has selected more than 300 astronauts to fly on missions to explore space. Today, there are 47 astronauts in the active astronaut corps, and more will be needed to crew future missions to the space station and destinations in deep space.
For more information about a career as a NASA astronaut, and application requirements, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/astronauts
Applications for consideration as a NASA Astronaut will be accepted at:
