An Oct. 11 opinion article written by President Barack Obama and published by CNN, outlined a vision for the future of space exploration. In it, the president echoed the words in his 2015 State of the Union address about the importance of sending humans on a roundtrip mission to Mars by the 2030s, and developing technology to help us stay on the Red Planet for an extended time. That same day in a blog post, NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden and John Holdren, assistant to the President for Science and Technology, discussed two NASA initiatives that build on the president’s vision and use public-private partnerships to enable humans to live and work in space in a sustainable way. The first was the selection of six companies to develop habitation systems as part of the agency’s Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships or “NextSTEP” program, designed to lay the groundwork for deep space missions. And this fall as part of the second initiative, NASA will start the process of providing companies with a potential opportunity to add their own modules and other capabilities to the International Space Station. The move is in-line with NASA’s plan to support and foster the growing community of scientists and entrepreneurs conducting research and growing businesses in space. Also, White House Frontiers Conference, Kennedy Reopens After Hurricane Matthew, Orion Service Module Vibration Tests, SLS Liquid Hydrogen Fuel Tank Completed, and Aviation Safety Reporting System Turns 40!
Tag: John Holdren
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Asteroid Redirect Mission Briefing on This Week @NASA – September 19, 2016
On Sept. 14, officials from the White House and NASA discussed the space agency’s Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) during a televised event at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. On the mission, which is targeted for launch in Dec. 2021, NASA plans to send a robotic spacecraft to an asteroid tens of millions of miles from Earth, capture a multi-ton boulder, and bring it to an orbit near the moon for future exploration by astronauts on a following mission aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft. During the live discussion, John Holdren, assistant to President Obama for Science and Technology, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and ARM Program Director Michele Gates highlighted the mission’s scientific and technological benefits, how the mission will support NASA’s goal of sending humans to Mars in the 2030s, and how it will demonstrate technology relevant to defending Earth from potentially hazardous asteroids. Also, Astronaut Tim Kopra Visits DC Area, The Warmest August in 136 Years, and 2016 Arctic Sea Ice Minimum Ties 2nd Lowest on Record!