#01

Back in February, the Insight lander on Mars deployed a burrowing probe commonly referred to as the mole, and it is moving again after spending the last 8 months stuck in its hole. The lander used its robotic arm to push down on top of the whole, which allowed the mole to generate enough friction to move forward in the soil. This is much better than the alternative, which was that it hit a rock! Keep your eyes tuned for more from Insight as the mole hopefully continues to make progress.

In other Mars news, the Mars 2020 rover just stood on its wheels for the first time. Expect to see more and more updates from this mission as the rover speeds towards  July 2020 launch date.

#02

The first ever spacewalk performed solely by women was completed outside the International Space Station on October 18th. The astronauts, Jessica Meir and Christina Koch, were outside the hatch for 7 hours and 17 minutes and successfully replaced a faulty battery charge/discharge unit. Meir commented on the occasion, "This is just us doing our job. We've been training for six years, so it's coming up here and doing our job. At the same time, we recognize that it is a historic achievement and we want to give credit to the women who came before us." Keep up the greet work ladies!

Speaking of women in space, NASA recently revealed a cool new "Woman in the moon logo" for Artemis, the current effort to, as NASA has emphasized, put the first woman and next man on the surface of the moon. The logo features a stylized depiction of the Goddess Artemis, the sister of Apollo, and drew inspiration from the Apollo program logo which featured a depiction of the sun god overlaid on the moon. 

Lastly, space fashion now appears to be a thing. Both NASA and Virgin Galactic showed off prototypes for their respective next generation spacesuits.

#03

"From October 31 through November 21, 2019, NOAA and partners will conduct mapping and remotely operated vehicle operations from NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer to collect critical baseline information about unknown and poorly understood deep water areas of the Southeastern U.S. continental margin." The expeditions will perform over a dozen separate deep water ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) dives, and you will be able to watch live footage from the seafloor as the expedition gets underway! You can also keep track of the mission log and daily updates.

#04

Two of NASA's flagship spacecraft are making important progress towards launch dates within the next couple years. The Mars 2020 rover just stood on its wheels for the first time prior to environmental testing.  Expect to see more and more updates from this mission as the rover speeds towards  July 2020 launch date.

The maligned James Webb Space Telescope team performed a successful deployment of a tennis court scaled sun shield. In space, the sun shield will protect a 21ft diameter telescope mirror and other instruments which can not be exposed directly to the sun. The telescope is set to fly no earlier than March 2021, delayed most recently due partially to tears in sun sheld discovered after a test performed last spring. Good to see an apparent successful recovery from that issue!

What to Read

Reading material that I've found worthwhile, often related to exploration, sometimes just a good book worth picking up!

If you enjoy Explore & Observe you'll probably also like a newsletter from veteran space reporter Jeffrey Kluger of Time Magazine, published each Friday, "analyzing space exploration, spaceflight, and the aerospace business." Kruger importantly puts the news from the last week in the context of historical developments and future plans. One of my recent favorites discussed the unveiling of spacesuits by NASA and Virgin Galactic. Commenting on news that NASA's massive new rocket may be be delayed yet again, Kluger reminds us, "Space is a form of grand adventure—but it's also an exceedingly serious business. ... But for both operations [NASA and Vegin Galactic], however, the priority should be the same: build the spacecraft, make them flightworthy and safe, and then you get to talk about the clothes." 

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This newsletter was produced as a private venture and not in the author's capacity as an employee of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology or of Griffith Observatory. Any views and opinions expressed herein or on exploreandobserve.com are his own and not those of his employers.

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