Category Archives: Space Exploration

If you think of space exploration and the United States, you probably imagine NASAs Apollo moon rockets and one giant leap for mankind.

But you shouldnt be thinking about big government.

Instead, picture a billionaire who earned a fortune building the infrastructure for a booming California economy, searching for a legacy-making investment in technology to highlight his accomplishments. Or picture a science-fiction-loving engineer who tests his rockets through public-private partnerships with the US government and is obsessed with colonizing other planets to preserve the human species.

You doubtless thought of Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, whose companies Blue Origin and SpaceX are breaking aerospace barriers today. But thats not who were talking about.

Rather, think of their predecessors. One, James Lick, was a real-estate baron who profited from land deals during the California gold rush, then in 1876 spent the equivalent of $1.5 billion today on the construction of an observatory with the worlds then-largest refractor telescope in the Diablo mountains of California. The other, Robert Goddard, invented and launched the first liquid-fuel rocket in 1926, arguing that the navigation of interplanetary space must be effected to ensure the continuance of the race.

These are famous figures in space history, but a book by NASA economist Alexander MacDonald helps put their contributions in the correct context. In The Long Space Age, MacDonald gathers new data about spending on space exploration to argue that private citizens, not the government, have been the key backers of American space exploration.

In the long historical perspective, the American movement out into space is much more than the story of one giant leap by its government in service of geopolitical competition; it is a cumulative story of the many small steps of its people, MacDonald writes. The spending on space by the likes of Musk and Bezos is a persistent, enduring trend that is now reemerging (authors emphasis).

Consider the data set MacDonald assembled of spending on observatoriesthe 19th-century equivalent of space probes, bringing human senses closer than ever before to astronomical bodies. Lick, and other philanthropists and amateur scientists, poured the modern equivalent of billions of dollars into observatories that delivered major scientific advances.

MacDonald also carefully traces the money that Goddard, who combined engineering brilliance with a flare for fundraising, received to finance his rocket investigations. Of the 2015-equivalent $73 million in funding Goddard spent over the course of his program, 65% came from private sources, much of it from the Guggenheim Foundation. MacDonald raises a fascinating historical counterfactual in John Jacob Astor IV, the wealthy heir who in 1894 published a book entitled A Journey in Other Worlds, apparently a meticulously researched 19th-century equivalent of The Martian and with similar cultural impact. If Astor had not died onboard the Titanic, he might have joined his wealthy peers as an important space funder.

The economic explanation for all this spending comes in two flavors, and neither one is market return. One is intrinsic motivation; some humans are attracted to the idea of exploring space and just want to do it, and people with a lot of money can make those dreams real. The other is signaling; Americans in the 19th century were eager to show their European cousins that they could contribute to the Enlightenment game of generating scientific knowledge.

It is signaling, too, that explains the Apollo experience, when massive amounts of public resources surged into the space sector. That Cold War moment created a huge value on space demonstrations because of the polarized global power structure and a lack of effective global communications networks. Putting a satellite into space or a human on the moon was an extremely powerful way for the US or the USSR to say, in essence, we are a well-organized technological power that you want to befriend.

With the end of global ideological conflict and the rise of interconnection, that kind of signaling isnt as valuable as once it was, and NASAs budgets are commensurately not as large. The Apollo program should not be seen as the classic model of American space exploration, but rather as an anomaly, MacDonald concludes.

It may be surprising for a NASA economist to say that the space agencys defining accomplishment was an outlier, but MacDonald says that an evolving NASA is embracing its role as an incubator of commercial space as well as an exploration agency. He is also skeptical that companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin will become serious money-makers for their founders in the near term. He sees their commercial bent as a reflection of how society is organized today.

Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are really following their own intrinsic motivations; they want their own futures in space, he told me. Whats different from them to [philanthropist] Andrew Carnegie or [Smithsonian director] Charles Abbot? The best mechanism for achieving their motivations is a corporation. The Carnegie model was make all your money and donate it through a philanthropic foundation. These guys are still in their forties. They intend to be in the game of trying to advance our activity in space for the rest of their lives.

Goddard, at least, would sympathize with their struggles. MacDonald writes about a press clipping in which the rocket pioneer laments his business prospects.

It would cost a fortune to make a rocket to hit the moon, Goddard mused in 1920. But wouldnt it be worth a fortune? The great pity is that I cannot commercialize my idea. If I could rant of a 100 percent return in forty-five days, Id have been financed long ago.

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A century before Bezos and Musk, rich men were already funding space exploration - Quartz

The Ariane 6 launcher will propel the next generation of satellites into Earths orbit, and could take future European astronauts towards destinations unknown.

The rocket is designed to carry a variety of payloads ranging from satellites to science experiments and is set to fulfil its first contracts in 2020, when it will help launch the first parts of the OneWeb global internet network.

Ariane 6 is 63m tall and 5.4m in diameter, and when its finished it will weigh at least 530,000kg. It will be capable of carrying payloads of 26 tonnes into orbit. But all that power doesnt come cheap.

The rocket, which is being built by Airbus Safran Launchers, comes with a hefty price tag: 3.6bn of development, plus an estimated 90m per launch.

Yet our demand for new launches is only going to go up, and so its important to bring down the cost of making these rockets. Thats where 3D printing can help.

The internal parts of a rocket have to withstand tremendous forces and extreme heat, and they need to be reliable. Thats particularly true of the injection head, one of the core elements of the propulsion module.

This complex part feeds the fuel mixture into the combustion chamber of the rocket, where it is ignited to generate thrust. Traditionally, its made up of 248 separate components which are produced and assembled in a series of steps including casting, brazing, welding and drilling.

However, the nature of those processes can introduce weak points thats risky at the best of times, but particularly so when thousands of kilograms of flammable fuel are passing through them. Its also time-consuming and expensive more than 8000 cross holes have to be drilled into copper sleeves, which are then precisely screwed on to each of the 122 to injector elements where hydrogen is mixed with oxygen.

For Ariane 6, the team working on the rocket decided to take a different approach. Theyre using 3D printing to create the complex injection head in a single piece, in conjunction with 3D printing technology supplier EOS.

Only additive manufacturing can combine integrated functionality, lightweight construction, a simpler design, and shorter lead times in a single component, said Steffen Beyer, head of production technology in the materials and processes department of the Ariane 6 project.

They used a heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant nickel-based alloy, and were able to 3D print it into the desired shape. Instead of 248 parts, its now just one. Thats not the only benefit the new nozzle is twice as fast to make, 25 per cent lighter, and it can all be built in one location.

Theres actually a 3D printer in space. NASA are testing the technology on the International Space Station with a view to using it on longer missions to Mars and beyond.

The hope is that 3D printing will remove the need for the kind of high-pressure improvisation that occurred on the Apollo 13 mission, when the crew had to cobble together a solution to a technical problem from the odds and ends they could find on the ship. In the future, theyll be able to print whatever they need.

Last June, the 3D printer on the International Space Station received a CAD design file transmitted from earth, and got to work. Four hours later, it had printed a tool a 5-inch long ratchet wrench comprised of 104 layers of plastic.

We wanted to work this just like we would for tools that the astronauts will 3-D print and use on the station, said Niki Werkheiser, who manages the 3D printing program from NASAs Marshall Space Flight centre in Huntsville, Alabama. This wrench will not be used in space, but what if it were a tool the crew needed? We are breaking new ground not only in the way we manufacture in space but also in the way we operate and approve space hardware that is built in space, rather than launched from Earth.

The wrench is now back on earth, where it will be tested to see if there are any differences in its structure caused by being printed in a microgravity environment. NASA are also exploring whether certain objects might actually be easier to print in space than they are on Earth because of gravity.

3D printing is being used to build the rockets that will take the next generation of satellites into space. As well as Ariane 6, New Zealand-based Rocket Lab have launched a 3D printed rocket this year.

Additive manufacturing will also be used to make those satellites more quickly and efficiently too Boeing and SpaceX are among the companies exploring this. Beyond that, the possibilities are almost endless. If you can transmit a file to the station as quickly as you can send an email, it opens up endless possibilities for all the types of things that you can make from CubeSat components to experiment hardware, said Werkheiser. We even may be able to make objects that previously couldn't even be launched to space.

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How 3D printing is enabling the next generation of space exploration - Professional Engineering (subscription)

Every year about this time in Wisconsin, the Wittman Regional Airport becomes the busiest airport in the world. busier than Chicagos OHare, than New Yorks La Guardia, than Los Angeles, London, Singapore, and all the rest.

Oshkosh, Wisconsin is the home of EAA AirVenture, an annual gathering of more than 500,000 flight enthusiasts.

From its beginnings in 1953, the Experimental Airplane Associations premier event has become the biggest fly-in in the world, featuring everything from kit planes to Warbirds, acrobatics to antiques, unique one-of-a-kind experimental aircrafts to hundreds upon hundreds of private planes piloted by enthusiasts from all over the world. It is a one-of-a-kind event that runs from July 24-30 this year.

But EAA AirVenture doesnt just focus on the skies it also looks to the stars. As in years past, the event includes several panels, presentations, movies, and sessions relating to space, and provides the opportunity to meet representatives from NASA and the space industry.

This year is special because 2017 marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of the Apollo program that placed Americans on the Moon 2 years later.

It is, therefore, fitting that EAA AirVenture host a Salute to Apollo on Friday, July 28 featuring Apollo astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Frank Borman, Joe Engle, Dick Gordon, Fred Haise, Jim Lovell, Al Worden, and iconic flight director Gene Kranz, who will discuss their experiences and talk about Americas future in space.

It is also fitting that this reunion will take place in Wisconsin. Milwaukees AC Electronic Circuits and later Delco (forerunners of todays Delphi Electronics & Safety) were responsible for the Apollo guidance system and built the lunar roving vehicle that first traveled on the moon.

Today, the United States is getting ready to leave earths orbit once again, preparing to launch into deep space by the end of this decade. Wisconsin is playing a vital role.

Almost two dozen companies including several in Milwaukee and one right in Oshkosh are helping build NASAs next great spacecraft, the massive Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion crew capsule. Together, they will take humans farther into space than ever before.

Wisconsins manufacturing and engineering expertise will go with them. Companies such as Amorim Cork Composites, 3M, Maynard Steel Casting Company, Pierce Manufacturing, Snap-On, and Oshkoshs own Multicircuits PCB are contributing manufacturing, engineering, analysis, technology, and exquisite quality control to the exacting task of creating the components and knowledge necessary to launch Americans once more into deep space.

These Wisconsin businesses join hundreds of other companies throughout the nation in forming the backbone of Americas aerospace and aeronautical manufacturing and technology industry.

As important as manufacturing the rocket and crew capsule are, astronauts are of course integral to human space exploration, and Wisconsin is the proud home to half-a-dozen former astronauts.

Curt Michel (La Crosse), 3-time space shuttle astronaut Leroy Chiao (Milwaukee), Deke Slayton of the Apollo-Soyuz test project (Sparta), 3-time shuttle and Soyuz team member Jeffrey Williams (Superior), 4-time shuttle astronaut Mark Lee (Viroqua), and 4-time shuttle astronaut Daniel Brandenstein (Watertown) all hailed from Wisconsin.

Today, we especially highlight Deke Slaytons contributions to the Apollo project. Slayton was an American World War II pilot, aeronautical engineer, and test pilot who was selected as one of the original NASA Mercury Seven astronauts and became NASAs first chief of the astronaut office. Wisconsinites are proud of our historic contributions to space exploration, and we honor the work of Deke Slayton.

President Trump and Vice President Pence have also signaled their strong support of human space exploration by signing recent legislation to fund and advance NASA programs and reestablish the National Space Council. As a fully-invested space state, Wisconsin joins them in looking to the stars, ushering in a new era for American leadership and discovery in space.

Scott Kevin Walker is the 45th and current governor of Wisconsin

A veteran of four space missions, Jim Lovell became the first man to journey twice to the moon.

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Guest column: Wisconsin remembers Apollo era, looks to future of ... - hngnews.com

By Kelly O'Mara | Jul 28, 2017 Special to espnW.com

Christiane Heinicke

Every element of the HI-SEAS mission was set up to simulate the conditions of a Mars mission, including the dome seen here behind Carmel Johnston.

For a year, whenever she wanted to go outside, Carmel Johnston would put on her airtight suit and helmet, make her way through the dome's airlock with another crew member and then step out into a volcanic landscape, where she would begin to explore the network of lava tubes.

Only Johnston wasn't on a faraway planet. She was in Hawaii.

It was all part of NASA's Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation Mission (HI-SEAS). From August 2015 to August 2016, the 28-year-old was commander of a six-person crew that spent the year living inside a 1,200-square-foot dome stuck on the side of a volcano in the middle of the Big Island of Hawaii.

It was all to simulate how things really would be if a crew traveled to Mars. If they went outside the dome, they wore spacesuits. They cooked with dehydrated foods and could only communicate with the outside world via a 20-minute email delay. "We had to do everything as if we were living on Mars," Johnston says.

Cassandra Klos

Carmel Johnston was the commander of the six-person HI-SEAS crew.

Why? To see how the six of them would react, so NASA could adjust and prepare for future space-exploration missions.

"The goal was to study the social and psychological aspects," she said, "all the things that can go wrong and do go wrong if we go to Mars."

There are lots of stories Johnston might tell us about what it was like living in such close quarters with five other people, but those stories are still confidential until the final NASA report. But one thing she will say: It was a challenge for each of them to keep their wits and emotions intact.

The key for Johnston was to spend a lot of time exercising. By just four months in, she had already walked 1.5 million steps -- most of it on a treadmill.

"Exercise, in general, was my way of staying sane," she says. There was a treadmill and a stationary bike, and Johnston would also put laundry detergent in a backpack and run up and down the stairs.

In space, astronauts have to do two hours of exercise each day to maintain muscle mass and bone density. To replicate those conditions, the HI-SEAS crew was given the same recommendations. Exercise combats depression and keeps the crew healthy -- and it also created some alone time in the small space. Maybe that's why three of them, including Johnston, ended up running treadmill marathons -- 26.2 miles all in one session -- in the dome.

"I will try my very hardest to never run on a treadmill again," she jokes.

Courtesy of Carmel Johnston

"Four months in the dome. One third down, two thirds to go!" Carmel Johnston wrote on Twitter along with this photo of the crew.

Johnston had been athletic before she went into the dome. Her dad was a runner, and, in high school, she played soccer, ran track and cross country, and snowboarded in the winter. In college she fell in love with running, and she ran a few marathons in addition to one adventure race every year in biking, running and kayaking.

From Whitefish, Montana, Johnston has a bachelor's degree in soil science and a master's in land resources. She was a soil scientist at the Air National Resource Council and loved working at the national parks near where she grew up.

She had applied to other missions similar to HI-SEAS before, so she was on a list that received an email about this HI-SEAS yearlong expedition. When she heard they were looking for people who liked the outdoors, worked well in groups and were trained in a specific kind of gas-flux measurement, she thought, "Hey, that's me."

The goal was to figure out the perfect combination of people and personality traits for a Mars mission. Johnston knew, even if it was hard on her personally, that she could add to that research.

"What is something I can do to contribute to the future of space exploration?" she says. "I'm a human being, they can learn from me."

On the mission, her days were filled with scientific research projects that mimicked what would need to be conducted if she were on Mars, exploration of the "Mars landscape" outside and the routine of life in a dome. When there was free time that wasn't spent exercising, she and her crew watched movies or listened to music stored in a large hard drive. They could also access email and the internet, so Johnston wrote blog posts and occasionally posted on Twitter.

She also relied on regular emails from her mom to keep her levelheaded and optimistic when it seemed like it was all too much. The group was close, but still, the confinement was a lot to put on six people who were strangers before the mission started. "Some of them will be my best friends forever," she says, and some of them "are civil, polite."

Based on what was learned from Johnston's group, future NASA projects will feature crews picked with an ideal combination of personalities, in anticipation of potentially sending a crew to Mars. And, in the meantime, those lessons can be applied on Earth too.

"Everything we learn on Earth will help us be better on Mars, but also, everything we learn on Mars will help us to live better on Earth," she says.

Since she finished the HI-SEAS mission, Johnston been speaking to school groups and doing education outreach. This summer she'll be back working for the National Park Service in Montana, hoping to be outside as much as possible. She has also been training for her first-ever Ironman race in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, which she'll race in August, a year to the day after getting out of the dome.

"It kind of gave me guidance and a goal to work towards," she says, of the Ironman. She was already fit and had spent a year on the treadmill and stationary bike during the mission. Attempting an Ironman combined everything she wanted and pushed her further. "My training for the Ironman has been a continuation of what we did in the dome," she says.

Though we don't yet know the results of this yearlong study of a crew on "Mars," Johnston left the dome with the feeling that she can accomplish anything she is determined to do, and next month, that means she'll tackle her most difficult race yet.

"I knew that I just survived a year of the hardest mental challenge of my life, so I was looking for a physical challenge next," she says.

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After a year in a tiny Mars simulator dome, Carmel Johnston can handle just about anything - ESPN

Space.com

NASA takes major step toward deep-space exploration Sacramento Bee NASA on Tuesday successfully tested the third engine controller unit for the RS-25 rocket engines that will power a pioneering deep-space exploration mission. NASA called this test a milestone toward the launch of the Space Launch System and the ... Success! Engine for NASA's Space Launch System Megarocket Aces 3rd TestSpace.com Aerojet Rocketdyne's RS-25 Flight Controller Goes Three for Three in Testing for NASA's Space Launch SystemNasdaq Aerojet Rocketdyne Tests 3rd Flight Engine Controller for NASA SLS Rocket; Eileen Drake CommentsExecutiveBiz (blog) all 19 news articles »

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NASA takes major step toward deep-space exploration - Sacramento Bee

SpaceX is a company that aims to reduce the cost of space transportation with the long-term goal of creating a colony on Mars.

US billionaire and entrepreneur Elon Musk formed the businessinCalifornia in 2002 out of a project called Mars Oasisthat explored ways to send a mini greenhouseto the Red Planet togrow interplanetary plants.

After failing to elicit cheap rockets for the project from Nasa and returning empty-handed from a low-costpurchasing mission in Russia, Muskdecided he would need to create his own rockets. Thus, SpaceX was born.

Fifteen years later, SpaceX has almost 6,000 employees, has sent two rockets to the International Space Station andtwice landed a recycled rocket successfully.

SpaceX is developing the Dragon spacecraft and Falcon reusable rockets with a goal of sending manned missions to Mars. It is researching and developing ways to create cost efficient rockets that can be used more than once, aninterplanetary transport system anda global communications network.

Link:

What is SpaceX and is it the future of space exploration? - Telegraph.co.uk

From the Eastern Shore to Hampton Roads, coastal Virginia has played a big role in Americas space program

Its awe-inspiring to think that in 1607 three ships carried the first English settlers to Jamestown, Virginia. Now, fourcenturies and 10 years later, the international space station, along with other missions, is being supplied from Virginias Eastern Shore.

NASA Wallops Flight Facility Visitor Center, with exhibits on aeronautics, thefacilitys history and current missions, is the place to begin. Allow time to view a movie on space exploration or earth/climate themes.

NASA Wallops Flight Facility is truly an attraction thats perfect for all ages, appealing to adults who have grown up with U.S. space exploration and to student/youth groups looking for fun, educational programs with curriculum enhancement. Multiple STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) paths are available with hands-on activities, special presentations and movies. Rocketry, solar system, and earth and climate science are just a sampling of subjects.

A behind-the-scenes tour provides adults and students a close-up look at the Wallops Flight Facilitys diverse programs. Half-day and full-day tours are available Tuesday and Thursdays with a minimum of four weeks notice. Lunch is available at the employee cafeteria with notice, and a picnic area is available. Save time for the gift shop, which has NASA-themed items. If youre fortunate, youll plan your visit on a day a rocket launch is scheduled.

While youre on the Eastern Shore, nearby Chincoteague Island provides a serene addition to any itinerary. The gateway to Assateague Island and the Virginia Chincoteague wild ponies is best explored by boat. Custom experiences for large groups can be accommodated.(chincoteaguechamber.com)

Theres still more space to explore in Virginia. Its slightly more than a two-hour drive from the Eastern Shore across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel to Hampton, Virginia, the birthplace of Americas space program. Established in 1917, NASA LangleyResearch Center was the agencys original field center. The center gained considerable notoriety in December 2016 with the release of the movie Hidden Figures. The film shares the true story of three brilliant African-American NASA women who served as the brains behind the launch of astronaut John Glenn.

The Virginia Air & Space Center serves as the official NASA Langley visitor center, offering interactive exhibits spanning more than 100 years of flight. Thirty historic air-craft, space flight artifacts and a hands-on space gallery join IMAX films to tell the history of flight. The Cosmic Cafe and a gift shop are on site.

Through the Virginia Air & Space Center, NASA Langley is dedicated to fostering the growth of the nations youth. STEM is at the core of the NASA mission, and there are numerous resources available to teachers. (nasa.gov/langley/education/classroom)

If youre still in need of a flight fix, the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach is well worth a stop. There youll find the largest collection of World War I and II military aircraft in the world. Each plane has been fully restored to its prior military condition. The museum is a perfect addition to any Virginia itinerary. (militaryaviationmuseum.org)

Nearby Williamsburg, Jamestown/York-town, Newport News, Norfolk and Virginia Beach provide a wealth of group-friendly attractions, accommodations and dining.

From Virginias place in the settlement of English-speaking America to her leadership in space exploration, it has been a marvelous journey.

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NASA Visitor Centers Tell the Story of Space Exploration

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From the Eastern Shore to Hampton Roads, coastal Virginia has played a big role in Americas space program

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Leisure Group Travel

Contributor: David Bodle

Dave brings his experience as a receptive tour operator and former publisher to regular contributions in all Premier Travel Media platforms, including a marketing column in Leisure Group Travel magazine.

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NASA Visitor Centers Tell the Story of Space Exploration - Leisure Group Travel

For decades, scientists have thought the moon was a dry, dusty place, but it may be time to re-write the astronomy books.

New findings are upending decades of understanding about our closest neighbor in space; an analysis of satellite data suggests the moon's interior may actually be pretty wet, which could help make it easier to fly to the moon and back, or even stay there awhile, reports CBS News' Jan Crawford.

Using a recent picture of the moon's surface, and measuring the reflecting light, researchers at Brown University were able to detect water molecules in the colored areas. Red and yellow indicates a high concentration.

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On the 48th anniversary of the first moonwalk, a lawyer from Illinois saw her bank account take "one giant leap." The buyer of a bag containing t...

The researchers say there could be as much water there as what is found under the earth's crust.

Planetary geologist Ralph Milliken is the lead author of the study.

"Some of these deposits that we observe on the moon span thousands of square kilometers. They're absolutely enormous," Milliken said.

It works like this: when the moon was young and still volcanically active, violent eruptions released water molecules trapped in the moon's mantle. As the magma cooled, the molecules became trapped again -- this time inside volcanic glass beads embedded in moon rocks left behind on the surface.

A similar process happens when volcanoes erupt here on Earth.

On the moon, Milliken says most of the water is dispersed deep below the crust, locked away in its rocky interior.

"We can bake that water out of those rocks," said Derrick Pitts, Chief Astronomer at the Franklin Institute.

He says the moon's water could be used for drinking, as well as to provide oxygen for breathing and hydrogen for rocket fuel.

"We wouldn't have to carry so many basic commodities to the moon, which turns out to be one of the most expensive things we can do in space exploration," Pitts said.

"To actually get, say, a liter of water you probably have to mine and harvest maybe one to 300 cubic feet of material. An important question in all of that would be, is it economically feasible to do so?" Milliken said.

Milliken doesn't think the discovery of large amounts of water on the moon means it could support life as we know it. He says the conditions there are still pretty inhospitable to the kinds of organisms we have here on Earth.

2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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There may be a lot of water hiding under the moon's dusty surface, researchers say - CBS News

The Senate appropriations bill increases funds for the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft, matching the companion House bill. Credit: NASA

WASHINGTON A Senate appropriations subcommittee approved a spending bill July 25 that would provide NASA with $19.5 billion, striking a middle ground between the administrations original request and a more generous House bill.

The commerce, justice and science subcommittee (CJS) approved the bill in a brief markup session, delayed by more than an hour due to a procedural vote on the Senate floor about healthcare legislation. The full Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to mark up the bill July 27.

While the committee has yet to release the bill, the summary of the bill notes it provides $19.53 billion for NASA, $437 million above the administrations request for fiscal year 2018. That amount, though, is about $340 million less than whats offered the House version of the CJS bill, passed by House appropriators July 13 and pending consideration by the full House.

This committee remains supportive of science and innovation by preserving a balanced space program with NASA, Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), chairman of the CJS subcommittee, said in his opening remarks at the markup. The White House proposal, he said, would erode ongoing science missions, jeopardize core operations, eliminate the entire education directorate and delay exploration launches.

The bill summary addresses some of those issues. The bill provides $2.15 billion for the Space Launch System, $212 million above the request and identical to the amount in the House bill. It also provides $1.35 billion for the Orion crew vehicle, $164 million above the request and again identical to the House bill.

The bill also provides $100 million for NASAs Office of Education, which the administration sought to close in the request despite bipartisan criticism. The House offered $90 million for the office, also rejecting the administrations plans.

Few other details about the budget were included in the summary. NASAs science programs would receive $5.57 billion, $140 million below the request and nearly $290 million less than the House bill. The summary did not break down how that funding would be allocated among NASAs various science divisions and the development of the James Webb Space Telescope.

NASAs commercial crew program would get $732 million in the bill, identical with the administrations request and past planning for the multi-year development effort. NASAs space technology program would get $700 million, an increase of $21 million over the White House proposal. The summary did not specify what programs within space technology would benefit from the increase, but the summary did note that it includes funds to advance projects in early stages of development that are expected to eventually demonstrate capabilities needed for future space exploration.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations two major programs, the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite R (GOES-R) and Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS), would receive full funding. The White House requested $518.5 million for the GOES-R program and $775.9 million for JPSS.

That full funding, Shelby said in his statement, extended to the Polar Follow-On program, which supports development of the third and fourth JPSS satellites. It wasnt clear what constituted full funding for that program, which received $328.9 million in 2017 and was previously planned to get $586 million in 2018. The White House request sought only $180 million for the program, which it plans to delay and restructure. The House bill provided only $50 million for Polar Follow-On, citing a lack of details about that proposed restructuring.

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Senate bill finds middle ground for NASA funding - SpaceNews

MATTOON -- Laura Blackerby-Smith has always been fascinated by space.

Blackerby-Smith, a sixth-grade science teacher at Mattoon Middle School, was 9 years old when she watched her first space shuttle launch.

"My parents took us to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and we watched the launch of the space shuttle Columbia," Blackerby-Smith said. "(After attending the launch) I was hooked on anything NASA, anything space travel. I was just so interested in the work of NASA."

So, when she found out in January that she was one of 200 teachers from 33 countries and 45 U.S. states and territories to be accepted into the Honeywell Educators at Space Academy program, she could safely say she was excited.

It felt like winning a trip to Disney World, she said. It was that exciting.

The Honeywell program is a scholarship program started in 2004 that aims to inspire middle school math and science teachers to become more effective educators in science, technology, engineering and math. According to a press release, Honeywell facilitates the program to ensure these STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) programs are taught in new, innovative ways.

And as part of the program, Blackerby-Smith, along with the other 199 teachers, was sent to the United States Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala., to participate in hours of classroom and laboratory instruction focused on science, space exploration and leadership skills development

Also, these teachers were challenged in several realistic astronaut simulations, including a high-performance jet simulation, rocketry and a coding mission to launch them, scenario-based space mission, land and water survival training, and interactive flight dynamics programs.

When Blackerby-Smith heard of the program, she was set on taking part.

If I didn't (get selected), I would try again next year, she said. I think a part of the whole NASA program and the part of space is that so many failures happen.

She found out about the program through her search for development workshops do over the summer.

I thought, 'What about space camps for adults?' she said, when she was searching, which led her to the Honeywell program.

Beyond her own passions for space exploration, the idea for space camp spawned from conversations in her classroom.

I found that my students are so engaged when we talk about NASA and we talk about space, she said.

Since her start in science education, she noticed that space exploration can be tied to almost everything in science.

You can relate space to anything, she said.

In the program, Blackerby-Smith noted that teachers ran through intense astronaut simulations, most notably her simulated mission to Mars, which she commanded.

In that simulation, she and her small team went through almost every step, from launching from Earth to landing on Mars. Even though it was a simulation, it did not feel any less than real for her, Blackerby-Smith said, describing the launch.

Just for that split second, you really did feel like your life was in your teammates' hands, she said. They made it feel very real.

Even stepping on a simulated Mars, which consisted of some sand on the ground with a red light above coloring the floor below, felt real, she said.

It was very, very surreal, she said.

There, the teachers also got to experience a simulated transfer of astronauts between the International Space Station and the space shuttle Endeavor and participated in training on the multi-axis trainer, which simulates the spin of a spacecraft as it enters Earth's atmosphere.

They even participated in an emergency spacecraft water landing and escape, which included swimming from a sinking aircraft.

I bet my blood pressure was probably sky high through a lot of those things, she said.

Outside of these simulations, Blackerby-Smith said she is excited to bring back some knowledge for science projects for this fall.

I came home with a lot of really neat lessons I could use, she said.

One of those includes a project where students will attempt to keep an egg from cracking by designing a structure that will survive a high drop, making the structure out of various materials like popsicle sticks, parachutes and foam.

Beyond specific projects, she said the stories of the astronauts she met served as good life lessons, let alone science lessons.

I feel like I have so many inspirational stories to take back, she said.

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MMS teacher visited space center, to incorporate experience into lessons - Journal Gazette and Times-Courier