Are We There Yet?

Last year, Curiosity’s drill broke. The Mars rover had used the drill to acquire sample material from Martian rocks 15 times so far. But a sensor that monitors the amount of force used on the arm that hold the drill failed. That means Curiousity can’t tell if the drill bit is slipping or facing excessive force.

Mission managers think they have a fix. Megan Richardson is an engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab who helped come up with a way to safely drill with Curiosity. She joins the podcast to talk about how the team figured out the solution and just how soon the rover’s drill will get back to work.

As scientist continue to sift through all that data from Scott Kelly’s year in space, the next generation of astronauts are beginning to look to longer missions in deep space and more extreme environments like the surface of Mars.

So what is next? What’s Beyond the year in space? PBS documentary “Beyond a Year in Space” asked that very question and you can stream it online.

One of those astronauts in the documentary who is looking at how to get humans farther into space is Jessica Meir. She was selected as an astronaut in 2013 and has a background in studying the physiology of animals in extreme environments.

She joins the podcast to talk about how astronauts are training for long duration, deep space missions and what’s ahead after a year in space.

If we’re going to go to Mars, we’re going to have to figure out how to live in space for a really long time.

NASA ran an experiment on astronauts and twins Scott and Mark Kelly. They sent Scott up in space for nearly a year, and kept Mark on earth to see how bodies change in microgravity.

What they found was Scott suffered from bone loss and new allergies to things like his own bed sheets. Back on earth, Scott Kelly spoke about some of the strange ways his body changed while up in space .and what’s ahead for figuring out long-duration space flight.

When it comes to taking a clear picture of the sky it helps to be isolated. That’s why astronomers have telescopes in remote locationsaway from light pollution and at a high altitude.

But sometimes ground based telescopes aren’t enough. There’s a handful of space-based telescopes, but resources on those machines are limited. Somewhere in the middle is SOFIA. It’s a modified 747-SP jumbo jet that hauls an 2.5 meter telescope into the stratosphere.

Host Brendan Byrne got a chance to hitch a ride with the SOFIA crew as they chase the shadow of Triton, Neptune’s moon.

Elon Musk has a new plan for Mars. The SpaceX founder unveiled his updated vision for Mars and more at this year’s International Astronautical Conference. It’s a bit more scaled down than before but still ambitious, in true Elon fashion.

And just this week, the Trump Administration’s National Space Council met for the first time, cementing the administration’s plans to head to the moon.

So what does this all mean for space exploration? Mashable’s Deputy Science Editor Miriam Kramer joins the podcast to break it down.

Be sure to follow Miriam on Twitter for more space news. 

Clarification: SpaceX confirmed the Iridum-3 launch from Vandenberg Air Force Station will use a new launch vehicle and attempt a Pacific Ocean droneship landing.

The EchoStar 105/SES-11 launch from Kennedy Space Center will use a flight-proven booster and attempt an Atlantic Ocean droneship landing.

 

What does it take to become an astronaut? That’s the question Loren Grush asked ahead of the production of the new web series “Space Craft.” Loren is The Verge’s space reporter and host of the new web series that explores the tech and training taking humans into deep space.

We spoke earlier this month about the series and what she learned while producing the show.

Watch all the episodes online. 

The building of NASA’s SLS rocket starts on the Mobile Launcher. It’s a giant piece of machinery that is towed into the Vehicle Assemble Building. When the rocket is ready for launch, it’s towed across Kennedy Space Center to the pad.

This is the way it was done during Apollo and Shuttle. Now, NASA’s Ground System Development and Operations (GSDO) is working to finalize the launcher ahead of Exploration Mission 1.

So just what goes into building a movable launch pad? Construction Manager Mike Canicatti joins the podcast to bring us up to speed. 

Before NASA can launch its next big rocket, the Space Launch System, it has to put it together.

That happens in the Vehicle Assembly Building. The VAB is this gigantic building that towers over everything at Kennedy Space Center. It’s been home to the assembly of the Apollo rockets, as well as decades of shuttle assembly and processing.

Engineers and workers had to transition the building from the shuttle program to SLS — a pretty big task. Overseeing that effort is Jose Perez Morales. He takes us through the VAB to talk about the changes being made and how you actually put together a rocket.

NASA is in the process of developing a rocket system that will take humans past low-earth orbit and into deep space.

Astronauts will explore places like cis-lunar space, or maybe even Mars, from the safety of the Orion space capsule. To blast that piece of hardware into space, NASA is building the Space Launch System.

That huge rocket will launch an uncrewed capsule on a trip around the moon sometime in 2019 and that mission starts from the Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39B.

 

Listen to the podcast episode by clicking on the audio player above.

Buzz Aldrin is obsessed with Mars. The Apollo 11 astronaut and second person to walk on the moon is now developing a plan to send humans to live permanently on the red planet.

The Buzz Aldrin Space Institute at Florida Tech is hoping to fine-tune that vision with research and workshops with experts. One question Buzz has is what are the psychological impacts of living on Mars?

Earlier this month, social science experts met at the Kennedy Space Center’s Visitor Complex to answer that question. Buzz Aldrin’s son, Andy Aldrin, serves as the Director of the Institute.