Republican lawmakers have begun working to fund space exploration projects over environmental research within the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

The House Science, Space, and Technology Committee held a hearing on the future of NASA on Thursday morning. Two former astronauts and two other NASA experts testified before the committee.

Delivering his opening statement, Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Stafford, a former NASA astronaut, derided what he viewed as a lackluster past eight years:

One of the key issues confronting the new Congress and the new administration will be how to go forward with restoring Americas preeminence in space after what, frankly, for nearly eight years, have been lost opportunities."

Stafford's comments align with what many Republican lawmakers argued throughout former President Barack Obama's administration. Under Obama, funding within NASA for planetary science and exploration waned while funding for the earth science program, which focuses on environmental research, grew by almost 50 percent.

Republicans, many of whom doubt the validity of concerns surrounding climate change, took issue with the move. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), chairman of the SenateSubcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness, emerged as a leader in the fight to re-prioritize space exploration.

Cruz introduced a bipartisan NASA reauthorization bill in the last Congress that increased funding for planetary science and emphasized NASA's exploration projects. The bill passed in the Senate, but was unable to make it through the House before the end of the 114th Congress.

The Senate could pass Cruz's NASA reauthorization legislation once again as early as Friday. Speaking about the bill, Cruz told Independent Journal Review on Wednesday:

I think it is critical that NASA get back to its core mission of space exploration. Under the Obama administration, space exploration was not given the emphasis and priority it deserves.

Republicans in both houses of Congress are in agreement with Cruz's priorities for NASA. A spokesman for Rep. Bill Posey (R-Fla.), a member of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, told IJR about his goals for NASA in the new Congress:

The shift back towards NASA should be focused on space exploration. We have one agency that studies space. We have something like sixteen others that focus on climate issues.

While Republicans maintain that NASA's fundamental mission should be one of exploration, supporters of the earth science program point to the recent work it has done in satellite technology and weather forecasting that millions of Americans rely on today.

Beyond funding disagreements, however, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle tend to agree that returning to space is a worthwhile goal, not only for scientific discovery, but also for national security.

Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-Okla.), one of President Donald Trump's potential candidates for Administrator of NASA, spoke at length during Thursday's hearing about the threats that advancing Chinese space operations pose to American security. He described the Moon as critically important for the geopolitical position of the U.S.

Likewise, Posey has introduced a bipartisan bill that would direct NASA to return to the Moon by 2022. A portion of the bill's text reads:

Space is the worlds ultimate high ground, and returning to the Moon and reinvigorating our human space flight program is a matter of national security.

While some members of the 115th Congress clearly have ambitious plans for space policy moving forward, their first move will be to shift the focus within NASA from environmental research and other programs to space exploration by allocating increased funding to the planetary science program.

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Republicans Aim to Prioritize NASA Space Exploration Efforts Over Environmental Research - Independent Journal Review

Turkmenistan is aiming for the stars.

Speaking at his presidential inauguration after winning a galactic 97.7 percent of the vote in an election over the weekend, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov announced that Turkmenistan will embark on further exploration of space.

The state news agency cited the president as saying on February 17 that Turkmenistan will build a world-class observatory from which to study the skies. But there is also a more explicitly commercial intent behind this sudden interest in space.

Huge attention will be devoted to developing the communications sector, he said. We will continue to exploit outer space by launching new satellites that will enable us to optimize telecommunications networks and the national economy and raise the Great Silk Road linking the continents to a whole new level.

Turkmenistan has already secured a perch in the space. In 2015, a Turkmen satellite was blasted into orbit onboard a SpaceX craft. The 4.5 ton satellite was built on order by Frances Thales Alenia Space and is operated by the Communications Ministry to provide telecommunications services across Europe, Central Asia and Africa.

Berdymukhamedov said at a government meeting in mid-January that one priority for 2017 was to continue developing mobile, broadcasting and internet communications, and that satellites would be key to that goal.

It would, of course, almost certainly be cheaper to rely on plugging the nations information infrastructure into regional and global networks, like all neighboring countries do, but Turkmenistan takes its North Korea-style isolation seriously. Internet provision inside Turkmenistan is for now poor and, for much of countrys hard-up population, expensive. The government revealed in January that the launch of a second satellite is imminent. Contrary to what Berdymukhamedov implied at the inauguration ceremony, however, the intent of that satellite will be to study the earth to perform remote earth sensing to be exact not space, according to officials.

But the president is for now selling this space lark in loftier terms. In medieval times, he mused, Turkmen scientists exploited the fine weather to make remarkable discoveries in space and contributed greatly to the development of world science.

Turkmenistan is not the only country in the region making outsized claims to space exploration. In September 2015, Tajikistan announced it had discovered a minor planet in the solar system, which it said had been renamed, well, Tajikistan. Authorities claimed in a report (now since seemingly removed from the state news agency website) that the celestial body was so named by a group called the International Astrophysicists Union (which doesnt seem to exist) in recognition of contributions made by Tajikistans scientists to the study of the heavens.

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Turkmenistan Aims High as It Pledges Space Exploration - EurasiaNet

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Space Exploration: Could A Habitable Planet Feature A Habitable Moon? Forbes Could a habitable planet feature a habitable moon? originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. Answer by Dave Consiglio, Chemistry and Physics High ... and more »

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Space Exploration: Could A Habitable Planet Feature A Habitable Moon? - Forbes

NASA has awarded $2 million to two companies for the development of technology that will help astronauts breathe safely in space for longer periods, potentially furthering long distance space exploration.

The projects aim to advance the use of oxygen recovery technology which will convert carbon dioxide back into oxygen. Its hoped it will help astronauts breathe a little easier in deep space during long missions.

The selected proposals came from Honeywell Aerospace based in Phoenix, Arizona and UMPQUA Research Co. from Myrtle Creek in Oregon.

On the International Space Station (ISS) currently only 50 percent of the carbon dioxide astronauts exhale is recovered and converted back into oxygen. To make up the shortfall NASA has been transporting oxygen to the ISS crew from Earth.

However, this fix becomes increasingly troublesome as astronauts travel deeper into space on longer missions. The new investment will attempt to solve that problem by getting 75 percent of the oxygen crew require back from their exhaled carbon dioxide.

The development of advanced life support technologies will allow NASA to establish improved capabilities for future deep space, long-duration, human exploration missions, said Steve Jurczyk of NASAs Space Technology Mission Directorate in Washington.

READ MORE:Mars 2020: Final three landing sites revealed (PHOTOS)

Honeywell Aerospace, a divisions of the Honeywell International conglomerate, is heavily involved in NASA space mission planning and development. It was established in 1914 and has been involved in numerous corporate and military developments including the Manhattan project. UMPQUA Research Co has previously built water disinfection and purification subsystems for the ISS, the Space Shuttle and other projects.

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NASA spends $2mn on 'advanced life support tech' for deep space travel - RT

Full-scale nuclear test

The nuclear demonstration test will occur in late summer or early fall of 2017. The test will be conducted at the Device Assembly Facility at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). It will be comprised of a ~32 kilogram enriched uranium reactor core (about the size of a circular oatmeal box) made from uranium metal going critical, and generating heat that will be transported by sodium heat pipes to Stirling engines that will produce electricity.

The test will include connecting heat pipes and Stirling engines enclosed in a vacuum chamber siting on the top of a critical experiment stand.The critical experiment stand has a lower plate than can be raised and lowered. On this plate will be stacked rings of Beryllium Oxide (BeO) that form the neutron reflector in the reactor concept. A critical mass is achieved by raising the BeO reflector to generate fission in the reactor core. Once fission has begun, the BeO reflector will be slowly raised to increase the temperature in the system to 800 degrees Centigrade. The heat pipes will deliver heat from the core to the Stirling engines and allow the system to make ~250 watts of electricity. For the purpose of testing only, two of the eight Stirling engines will make electricity,the others will only discard heat.

The data gained will inform the engineers regarding startup and shutdown of the reactor, how the reactor performs at steady state, how the reactor load follows when Stirling engines are turned on and off and how the system behaves when all cooling is removed. This data will be essential to moving forward with a final design concept.

Potential for missions to Mars

Once the nuclear demonstration testing has been completed, the path to putting a nuclear reactor on a NASA mission to deep space or the Mars surface is still several years away. A finalized design must be completed along with rigorous testing of the system for reliability and safety.

The most recent NASA studies have focused on the use of KiloPower for potential Mars human exploration. NASA has examined the need for power on Mars and determined that approximately 40 kilowatts would be needed. Five 10-kilowatt KiloPower reactors (four main reactors plus one spare) could solve this power requirement.

The 40 kilowatts would initially be used to make oxygen and possibly propellant needed by the Mars Ascent Vehicle to send astronauts back into Martian orbit. After making oxygen or fuel, the power would then be available to run the Martian habitat or provided power to Martian rovers all needed by the astronauts during their stay on Mars. Nuclear power has the advantage of being able to run full time day or night, as well as being able to operate closer to the Martian poles where it is believed water exists in substantial quantities.

Lessons learned

Lessons learned from the kiloPower development program are being leveraged to develop a Mega Watt class of reactors termed MegaPower reactors. These concepts all contain intrinsic safety features similar to those in kiloPower, including reactor self-regulation, low reactor core power density and the use of heat pipes for reactor core heat removal. The use of these higher power reactors is for terrestrial applications, such as power in remote locations, or to power larger human planetary colonies. The MegaPower reactor concept produces approximately two megawatts of electric power. The reactor would be attached to an open air Brayton cycle power conversion system. A Brayton power cycle uses air as the working fluid and as the means of ultimate heat removal.

MegaPower design and development process will rely on advanced manufacturing technology to fabricate the reactor core, reactor fuels and other structural elements. Research has also devised methods for fabricating and characterizing high temperature moderators that could enhance fuel utilization and thus reduce fuel enrichment levels.

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Nuclear Reactors to Power Space Exploration - R & D Magazine

Enlarge / A fully integrated Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle is readied for flight on Feb. 15, 2017.

As the United States' NASA and Russia's Roscosmos, the world's most accomplished space agencies, face stagnant or even reduced budgets, India is increasing its space exploration spending for 2017-18 by more than 20 percent, from about $1.1 billion to $1.4 billion. Budget documents recently released by the agency show particularly healthy increases for space technology and space science, reflecting a belief by the Indian government that investing in space exploration will benefit the country in the long term.

The increases will provide initial funding for two new ambitious Indian space science missionsone to Mars and another to Venus. Although the budget documents do not provide much detail, reports in Indian newspapers suggest that the "Mars Orbiter Mission II" may include some kind of lander, with alaunch in 2021 or 2022; the "Mission to Venus" will be a more straightforward orbiter. With plans for a Martian lander, it appears that India is trying to compete with thespace programof China,its regional Asian rival.

At the same time its budget prospects are brightening, India is gearing up for one of its highest-ever profile launches this week. The country's workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle rocket will carry a payload of more than 100 small satellites into orbit, breaking the record of most satellites deployed in a single launch. The majority of the satellites in theFeb. 15 launch will come from the US-based Planet, which is sending 88 of its "Dove" satellites to Sun-synchronous orbit at an approximate altitude of 500km. Once there, the small, 4.7kg satellites will join an existing constellation of Planet satellites to image the Earth daily.

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As US, Russia eye stagnant space budgets, India ramps up investment - Ars Technica

Looking to explore more of outer space, developer Chucklefish have been revealing additional information on an upcoming patch for Starbound. This patch is all about exploring the space between planets, so it will see players blasting off to check out travelling merchant ships, derelict space stations and outlying systems.

For more cosmic adventures, check out these PC space games.

To aid exploration in the freezing blackness of space, this update is adding giant mech suits for players to pilot. These bulky robots are designed for extra-vehicular activity, perfect to use while exploring the ruins of an abandoned space station or a spooky wrecked ship. These suits can be equipped with different weapons systems, as well as painted with custom paint jobs to personalise them. As you blast off for the deeper reaches of space, keeping your mech suit updated will be key to surviving dangerous excursions. I can only imagine what vile horrors may be lurking in the depths of some of these abandoned ships.

With this upcoming patch enacting galactic level change, interplanetary travel is getting a massive revamp with the addition of a new navigation interface. The interface does somewhat resemble the Galactic Map seen in No Mans Sky, with astronauts being able to zoom all the way out to see nearby stars in your section of the galaxy. However, this new map is not static, as ships can linger in orbit as moons and space stations fly past. You can freely move around when you are inside a solar system, flying between different planets to spot other ships travelling round.

You could just wait and watch the worlds go by while in space, observing ships coming to and from different planets. You may have to wait around as you look for a specific merchant ship to bring their wares to your current planet, but patient space captains could be rewarded with sick loot. I imagine that ship to ship battles may also come in this update, with space pirates possibly appearing in orbit, looking to pillage nearby vessels.

There has been no exact announcement on when this cosmic update is coming, but keep your scanners locked on the Starbound website for up to date information.

Thanks Rock, Paper, Shotgun.

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Mechs and greater space exploration are on the way in Starbound's ... - PCGamesN

Toftwood Infant School pupil Arthur inside the mobile planetarium at Toftwood Junior School. Picture: Ian Burt

Archant 2017

The exciting world of space exploration has been brought to life for pupils of a Norfolk infant school.

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The company StarLincs brought a mobile planetarium to Toftwood Junior School, in Dereham, for Toftwood Infant School to explore.

Fridays event tied in with the infant schools book week and pupils dressed in costumes related to Lost in Space.

Toftwood Infant School class teacher Kelsey Hooper said: The children have loved learning about the topic of space and this event really brought it to life.

We like to do things like this to give a real wow factor and to engage the children in a subject and they have really loved it.

Ninety year one pupils, aged five and six, from Toftwood Infant School went over to Toftwood Junior School for the event.

It was held at the venue because the junior school has more space to accommodate the mobile planetarium.

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Space exploration brought to life for pupils - Norfolk Eastern Daily Press

Today, a new generation of Americans looks to space and wonders where America will go next. Over the past eight years, NASA has laid the foundation for renewed American space exploration leadership under Charles Bolden, who stepped down as the agencys administrator on January 20. Although the space shuttle fleet has been retired, NASA has begun to field new capabilities that will take Americans back to Earth orbit, the moon, and beyond.

Bolden leaves his successor at NASA a full range of capabilities and policy options. Americas space agency has also reached out to private-sector entrepreneurs to develop commercial space capabilities to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station. And along with investing in the future of human space exploration, the United States has maintained a robust robotic space exploration program as well.

Indeed, America is better positioned today to embark on a big and bold program of human and robotic exploration than at any time since the end of the Apollo program. Despite tight budgets, NASA has invested in key building blockssuch as the Space Launch System, or SLS, and the Orion crew vehiclethat will come online during the current presidential administration. But these investments will only pay off if America sticks to the plan that NASA, Congress, and the Obama administration had collectively put together.

This hard-forged consensus will unravel, however, if the Trump administration changes course by initiating another high-level review of space exploration policy. Instead of commissioning another blue-ribbon panel, the current administrations NASA team should build on the progress made under Bolden. There is no need for the new NASA team to throw away eight years of hard work and investment just as America develops the capabilities necessary to send astronauts where they have never gone before.

NASA is ready for an ambitious, next generation program of space exploration. Even as the United States prepares to once again launch astronauts into orbit from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, American astronautstwo as of January 2017still remain on the International Space Station. Astronaut Scott Kellys year on board the station, which ended when he returned to Earth in March 2016, will help NASA better understand the physiological and psychological stresses of long-term spaceflight. Moreover, the Hubble Space Telescope continues to beam down breathtaking images of the cosmos after a quarter-centuryand four repair missionsin orbit. Finally, 10 robotic explorers plumb the depths of the solar system, from Mars to Pluto and beyond.

These accomplishments are impressive, but NASA has not rested on its laurels over the past eight years. Despite a difficult transition period and tight budgets below those of previous decades when adjusted for inflation, NASA has made significant progress toward human exploration missions beyond the moon. Building on the solid bedrock of President Barack Obamas 2010 National Space Policy directive, Congress NASA Authorization Act of 2010, and NASAs own 2015 Journey to Mars report, the space agency has made investments in new capabilities such as the Space Launch System, the Orion crew vehicle, and the Commercial Crew Program. With support and encouragement from NASA, new space entrepreneurs such as SpaceX, Bigelow Aerospace, and Blue Origin will soon bring their own capabilities and systems to the aerospace market. These investments will bear fruit in the coming yearsbut only if the Trump administration sticks to existing plans.

In recent years, and with the solid support of Congress, NASA has made slow but steady progress on the two main components of any human exploration beyond the moon: the Space Launch System rocket and the Orion crew vehicle. Already, Orion has had a successful uncrewed test flightExploration Flight Test-1in December 2014. Work is well underway on the next Orion vehicle, slated to be on the first SLS launch in late 2018. In another uncrewed flight dubbed Exploration Mission-1, or EM-1, Orion will spend six days in lunar orbit to test capabilities critical to future missions with astronauts.

Development of the SLS rocket that will send Orion on EM-1 has also proceeded apace. Testing is well under way on key SLS components such as the solid rocket boosters and the RS-25 engines that will power the rocket. Moreover, NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama has finished construction of the test stand for the largest SLS fuel tank. If all goes well, an SLS rocket will launch for the first time in fall 2018with an uncrewed Orion on top.

According to the current plan, astronauts will fly on Orion and SLS for the first time during Exploration Mission-2, or EM-2, as early as August 2021. Indeed, NASA has already outlined the mission profile for EM-2: Four astronauts will travel in an elliptical orbit before heading for a slingshot around the moon and returning to Earth. When they swing around the moon, the EM-2 astronauts will travel farther into space than anyone since the final Apollo mission in 1972.

At the same time, work on the Commercial Crew Program intended to return the launch of astronauts to American soil has proceeded apace. NASA has already awarded contracts to Boeing and SpaceX to fly astronauts to and from the International Space Station. But human spaceflight remains a difficult and challenging endeavor, and spacecraft development delays mean the United States is likely to launch astronauts from the Kennedy Space Center by May 2018 at the earliest. Despite these delays, real progress has been made toward returning astronaut launches to the United States early on in the new administration.

However, these delays also mean the United States will have to rely on Russia to send astronauts to and from the International Space Station for at least another year. The United States and its international partners will continue to operate the station until at least 2024 thanks to the Obama administrations 2014 decision to extend its lifespan. By the end of 2016, Americas International Space Station partnersRussia, Canada, Japan, and the European Space Agencyhad all agreed to extend the stations time in orbit. Maintaining the International Space Station well after its designed 15-year service life will be a challenge, but it will keep Americans in orbit as Orion and the SLS come online. It will also give NASA the opportunity to test new technologies and conduct further research on the psychological and physiological effects of long-duration spaceflight.

Despite this progress toward new human spaceflight capabilities, NASA faces lingering questions about critical components of Americas space exploration program. Amid heavy skepticism from Congress, NASA has started work on a two-phase Asteroid Redirect Mission, or ARM. By 2021, NASA plans to launch a robotic mission to retrieve a boulder from a nearby asteroid and redirect it into orbit around the moon. Sometime around 2026, astronauts aboard an Orion spacecraft will rendezvous with and explore this boulder. NASA argues that ARM is necessary to develop and test new technologies such as solar-electric propulsion that are necessary to send astronauts beyond the moon. But critics argue that these technologies can be developed without adding the cost and complexity of asteroid retrieval. The debate over ARM remains open, and its fate will be one of the first major decisions facing the new administrations NASA team.

Moreover, NASAs robotic exploration program has suffered from limited funding in recent years. Given the long lead times required to pull together robotic exploration missionsthe Juno mission to Jupiter, for instance, was selected in 2005, launched in 2011, and arrived at its destination in 2016lower budgets ensure that NASA starts work on fewer of these missions. The decline in robotic exploration missions also jeopardizes NASAs ability to adequately prepare for human expeditions to Mars and other destinations beyond the moon. Without adequate robotic infrastructure to relay communications back to Earth and survey the Martian environment, NASA will be forced to either delay current plans for a 2030s Mars mission or take greater than necessary risks with astronaut safety.

Finally, tight and uncertain budgets have limited NASAs ability to plan effectively for the future. Thanks to sequestration and other fiscal fights, NASAs budget declined from just more than $18.7 billion in 2010 to less than $16.9 billion in 2013a cut of more than $3.1 billion when adjusted for inflation. Budgetary pressure contributed to the Obama administrations decision to back out of cooperation with the European Space Agencys ExoMars robotic exploration program. The Europeans, in turn, went to Russia to help build and launch their spacecraft. Despite general public and congressional support for NASA and its mission, the stability and sustainability of its budgets remains an open question as the new administrations NASA team takes charge.

In spite of these lingering questions, the next NASA team will inherit a solid foundation for space exploration from former administrator Bolden. Orion and the Space Launch System will give NASA the ability to send astronauts farther than any human has ever gone before, while the Commercial Crew Program will return astronaut launches to American soil. America and its partners will maintain the International Space Station in orbit until at least 2024, and NASAs robotic exploration budget has recovered from deep cuts in recent years. In short, Americas space program no longer stands at an uncertain crossroads and is poised to reassert American leadership in space.

But this foundation will crumble if the new administration hits the reset button on Americas space exploration program. Instead of commissioning yet another time consuming, high-level study of Americas human spaceflight program that forces NASA to change direction, the Trump administration should build on the bipartisan consensus achieved by Congress and the Obama administration in 2010. This consensus set Mars as Americas long-run human space exploration goal and provides a solid space policy framework for the United States.

This framework leaves plenty of room for the new administration to put its mark on Americas human space exploration programwithout ripping it up at the roots. NASAs report, titled Journey to Mars, for instance, provides a flexible, three-phase concept for progress. The first phase, which includes Scott Kellys recent year-long mission on the International Space Station, tests the capabilities necessary for deep space exploration in low-Earth orbit. Next comes what NASA calls the Proving Ground phase, in which astronauts will learn how to live and work in the deep space around the moon. Finally, the Earth Independent phase will culminate in a human voyage to Mars.

Fortunately, Congress appears to understand the importance of continuity in space exploration policy. Before the 2016 election, for instance, Sens. Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced legislation that reaffirmed the bipartisan consensus on Mars as the next goal for Americas human space exploration program. This bill shows that members of Congress can work across party and ideological lines to ensure that the United States sticks to its own space exploration plan.

Cooperation across party and ideological lines will also be necessary to ensure that NASA receives sufficient and stable support moving forward. In particular, NASA should receive additional funding for the Orion and SLS programs, which are critical parts of any deep space exploration mission. This financial cushion can reduce the risk of budget-driven delays to both programs and help make sure that Exploration Mission-1 and Exploration Mission-2 launch according to NASAs current plans. In addition, robotic explorationfunded through NASAs Planetary Science Divisionshould be increased modestly to levels necessary to maintain the robotic infrastructure on and around Mars while meeting the congressionally mandated goal of launching a mission to Europa by 2023. Without the infrastructure and information these robotic explorers provide, future human expeditions beyond the moon will be more hazardous than necessary.

At the same time, the new NASA team should identify and reach out to potential international partners for missions in the Proving Ground around the moon. This outreach should include traditional NASA partners such as Japan, Canada, and Europe while expanding to new players, including South Korea and India. By working with international partners, NASA maintains and strengthens the global network of international scientific and engineering relationships it painstakingly forged over decades. Since the United States remains the only nation with the financial capacity and technical capability to carry out a robust program of space exploration, this network also ensures that the United States remains the global leader in space.

While NASA invites new and traditional partners to join Proving Ground missions, it should maintain the dialogue with China that has been established in recent years. Right now, the prospect of full-blown cooperation with Beijing on space exploration remains remote. But the recent cooperation agreement on air traffic control between NASA and the Chinese Aeronautical Establishment shows how incremental progress toward a more cooperative relationship in space could be made.

However, numerous political obstacles prevent cooperation with China in space. Here in the United States, Congress restricts NASAs ability to cooperate with China for a variety of valid reasons. Even without legislative restrictions, the absence of a clear division between Chinas military and civil space programs would likely inhibit cooperation with NASA. Nonetheless, the United States has a significant national security interest in gaining insight into Chinas aerospace industryinsight that could be gained through incremental cooperation on space exploration.

The primary goal of any cooperation between NASA and Chinas space agencies should be to encourage China to clearly separate its civil space activities from its military space programas the United States did with great success when President Dwight Eisenhower established NASA in 1958. There are two potential avenues for cooperation the United States could offer to induce these changes in Chinese behavior. First, the United States could invite Chinese scientists to contribute a scientific instrument to an upcoming robotic exploration mission. This sort of limited collaboration would allow the United States and China to work together on scientific and engineering processes.

Second, the United States should hold open the prospect of a Chinese spacecraft visiting the International Space Station. Such a visit has already been suggested by the European Space Agency and would require American and Chinese engineers to work together on the development of a common docking system. This sort of limited cooperation would allow the United States and China to build confidence and trust in one another and work with other International Space Station partners. While the national security risks of a Chinese visit to the International Space Station are minimal, the gainsa look into Chinas aerospace industry and the separation of Chinas civil and military space programscould prove substantial.

After eight years in office, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden leaves his successor the foundation for a rejuvenatedand realisticspace exploration program. Investments in new capabilities such as Orion and the Space Launch System will bear fruit in the coming years, allowing NASA to send astronauts farther than has been possible since the end of Apollo. Equally important, a new consensus on Americas next human spaceflight goalMarshas emerged and solidified.

But American astronauts are not likely to reach Mars unless the new administration and its NASA team resist the temptation to hit the reset button on Americas space exploration program. Instead of commissioning yet another time consuming, high-level study of Americas space exploration program that forces NASA to change direction, the Trump administration should build on the bipartisan foundation thats been laid since 2010. Another disruptive shift in NASAs goals would jeopardize both this foundation and Americas leadership in space exploration.

For its part, Congress should reaffirm this consensus and provide NASA the resources necessary to build on the progress of the past eight years. Thanks to Bolden and his teams leadership and bipartisan cooperation in Congress, the new administration and its NASA team will inherit a solid space exploration foundation on which it can build.

Rudy deLeon is a Senior Fellow with the National Security and International Policy team at American Progress. Peter Juul is a Policy Analyst at American Progress. Stefanie Merchant is a Special Assistant at American Progress.

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Outgoing NASA Team Leaves Its Successors With Robust Options for Space Exploration - Center For American Progress

The Trump administration is seriously considering a major new initiative to privatize much of the space sector, promote a return to the moon by 2020, and aim for Mars and other Solar System targets soon thereafter. This, according to Politico.coms Bryan Bender, citing Trump administration internal documents obtained by Politico.

The central aim of the administrations new policy under consideration will be the large-scale economic development of space, and it will entail such revolutionary moves as fully privatizing lower-earth orbit, allowing for the mass deployment of private space stations, and freeing up NASA to return to cutting-edge research in new realms like manned exploration of interplanetary space.

As with all else that President Trump has tried to do, however, this new initiative is already meeting institutional resistance, particularly among the proponents of what Trump administration insiders are terming Old Space": mammoth corporations such as Boeing and Lockheed-Martin that have always enjoyed preferential access to space-related R&D grants and government contracts. Against them are arrayed the force of New Space": hungry young tech entrepreneurs such as Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, whose respective space companies, Blue Origin and SpaceX, have made stunning advances in space technology, including the coveted ability to fly craft into space and return them or stages of them back to Earth for reuse, a technology NASA never managed to develop. The Old Space concerns and their Capitol Hill supporters congressmen such as Senators Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who bitterly opposed the entry of upstart SpaceX into the exclusive club of space corporations allowed to do business with NASA are likely to resist change of this sort, since it may entail the loss of jobs among Old Space mega-employers in their home states.

The hard truth (hard, at least, for those whose guiding presumption is government infallibility as against private-sector unreliability) is that NASA has underachieved spectacularly in the area of manned space exploration since the glory days of the Apollo program. The space shuttle was a spectacular achievement, but ran hugely over cost and dominated NASAs budgetary priorities for three decades. Moreover, two space shuttles were lost, with significant losses in human life. Because of cost issues, the space shuttle was mothballed in 2011. But the result is that the United States no longer has the ability to put a human being into orbit. Only Russia and China currently have that capability, and the United States must rely on the former to keep the International Space Station staffed.

While their unmanned exploration of Mars, Saturn, Pluto, the dwarf planet Ceres, the asteroid Vesta, and many other objects in the Solar System has yielded a bounteous harvest for planetary scientists, and their array of space-based observatories such as the Hubble Space Telescope, the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, and the Chandra X-ray Observatory have revolutionized humanitys understanding of the universe, NASA has been perennially a day late and a dollar short in moving space technology forward from the 1970s.

In effect, NASA and its Old Space corporate allies are seen as too risk-averse, too prone to analysis paralysis to take space exploration and commercialization. Former Congressman and Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, who has been involved in some of the Trump administrations discussions on the new space initiative, summed up the issue admirably in a recent interview:

A good part of the Trump Administration would like a lot more risk-taking, competitive, aggressive, entrepreneurial approach to space. A smaller but still powerful faction represents Boeing and the expensive old contractors who have soaked up money with minimum results.

No NASA program dominated by bureaucrats could take the risks, accept the failures, and create a learning curve comparable to an entrepreneurial approach. Just think of the Wright Brothers 500 failures in five summers at $1 per failure. Ask how long NASA would have taken and how much it would have cost.

Notes Politico, The more ambitious administration vision could include new moon landings that see private American astronauts, on private space ships, circling the moon by 2020; and private lunar landers staking out de facto property rights for America on the moon, by 2020 as well, according to a summary of an agency action plan that the transition drew up for NASA late last month.

Elsewhere, the summary contemplates a total privatization of lower Earth orbit, including the International Space Station, a seamless low-risk transition from government-owned and operated stations to privately-owned and operated stations. Military assets would be excluded, naturally, but the Trump plan implies a low-orbit outer space that is almost entirely privatized, full of space stations for research, tourism, and transit to other destinations such as the moon the stuff of science fiction, that President Trump appears to believe can be accomplished only by unleashing the power of private enterprise.

We agree, of course, but the course is far from decided. Expect the old guard of Old Space and its congressional paladins to put up a fight, more concerned, as special interests inevitably are, with preserving status quo revenue streams than embracing the greater good. But if the Trump administration is able to win over NASA and enough political support on Capitol Hill, outer space in the near future may become a very busy place indeed.

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Trump's Vision of Space Exploration - The New American

An AtlasV rocket lifts off from Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, September 8, 2016. AP/Alex Sanz

Washington, D.C. (ENEWSPF)February 9, 2017. A new issue briefreleased by the Center for American Progress finds that there is a solid foundation for a rejuvenated and realistic space exploration program as NASA transitions to new leadership under the Trump administration. Under the leadership of former administrator Charles Bolden, NASA has made real strides over the past eight years toward historic missions into the solar system. The incoming leadership should resist the temptation to hit the reset button and undo the gains made by their predecessors.

NASAs big plans for space exploration in the coming decades rest securely on the foundation laid by Administrator Bolden over the past eight years, said Rudy deLeon, CAP Senior Fellow and co-author of the brief. At this exciting time, it would be very counterproductive to reassess the trajectory currently in place. If we as a nation are going to fulfill the goal of putting a human on Mars in the coming decades, it will be done squarely on the back of the gains of the past eight years. It would be a shame to squander this opportunity to achieve this truly historic accomplishment.

The brieffinds that NASA is poised to undertake a truly ambitious program of space exploration. Human missions to Mars and robotic exploration programs will only succeed under an overall approach that sticks to the plan set forth over the past decade rather than attempts to change the direction of NASAs priorities.

Click here to read the brief.

Source: http://americanprogress.org

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New NASA Leadership Inherits Rejuvenated Space Exploration Program - eNews Park Forest

A new bill would require NASA to develop a strategic plan for human Mars missions more detailed than existing documents, like this "Journey to Mars" infographic.

WASHINGTON Legislation recently introduced in the House and Senate wouldrequire NASA to develop a detailed studyabout how it would achieve a long-term goal of humans on Mars.

The Mapping a New and Innovative Focus on our Exploration Strategy (MANIFEST) for Human Spaceflight Act, jointly introduced Jan. 24 by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas), is intended to build upon a 2014 National Academies report on human space exploration pathways.

The key portion of the bill would require NASA to develop a strategic plan for a series of missionsleading up to human missions to Mars. It also amends a 2010 NASA authorization act, the most recent such bill to be enacted, by making "human exploration of Mars, including the establishment of a capability to extend human presence to the surface of Mars" a key goal of NASA's human spaceflight program. [NASA's Vision for Astronauts on Mars]

"By requiring a strategic plan from NASA, this bill will help focus existing resources towards achieving our long-term goal oflanding a human on Mars," Cornyn said in a statement.

The report envisioned by the bill would cover a wide range of issues associated with human space exploration. They include descriptions and assessments of mission architectures using Orion and Space Launch System, use of the International Space Station to achieve exploration goals, partnerships with other countries or private industry, studies of crew health and safety.

The bill doesn't directly specify what should be intermediate missions prior to going to Mars, including human missions to the surface of the moon, but would require the report to assess such destinations.

One aspect of the report, according to the bill, is an examination of the "utility of an expanded human presence in cis-lunar space toward enabling missions to various lunar orbits, the lunar surface, asteroids, Mars, the moons of Mars, and other destinations of interest." The bill would also require the report to provide a "detailed plan for prioritizing and phasing" those intermediate destinations.

Under the bill, NASA would be required to submit an interim report to the National Academies 90 days after the bill's enactment. The final version of the report, from the National Academies, is due one year after the bill becomes law. The bill stipulates that the process be repeated every five years.

"Americans are at their best when they're conquering new frontiers and this legislation ensures that NASA continues to push the boundaries of space exploration by landing an American astronaut on Mars," said Culberson in a statement.

This story was provided by SpaceNews, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry.

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Legislation Would Require Strategic Plan for NASA Human Spaceflight - Space.com

The Union Cabinet today was briefed on the Framework Agreement between India and Vietnam on cooperation in exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes. The agreement was signed on September 3, 2016.

It will enable pursuing potential areas of cooperation between the two nations in domains like space science, satellite communication and satellite-based navigation, planetary exploration, use of spacecraft and space systems, and application of space technology.

The Framework would initiate new research and application activities in the field of remote sensing of the earth, satellite communication and navigation, and exploration of the outer space.

This collaboration with Vietnam would lead to a launch of joint activity in the field of application of space technologies for the benefit of humanity.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)

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Cabinet briefed on India-Vietnam Framework Agreement on outer space exploration - Daily News & Analysis

MINSK, 8 February (BelTA) Belarus would like to develop cooperation with Iran in pharmaceutical industry, science and technology. A Belarusian parliamentary delegation led by Chairman of the Council of the Republic Mikhail Myasnikovich discussed opportunities for the implementation of joint projects during its visit to Iran, BelTA learned from the press service of the Council of the Republic.

The Belarusian MPs paid a visit to the Tofigh Daru Research & Engineering Company on 7 February. The company was established in 2000 to design new active pharmaceutical components and implement projects to set up pharmaceutical enterprises. The company accounts for 28.5% of Iran's total export of pharmaceuticals. During the meeting, Tofigh Daru representatives expressed the company's readiness to develop business ties with Belarusian companies. The parties discussed opportunities for localization of production through establishment of a joint venture in Belarus and development of cooperation between Iranian and Belarusian pharmaceutical companies, the press service said.

The Belarusian delegation led by Mikhail Myasnikovich also visited the Iran National Science Foundation on 7 February. The parties discussed matters related to research conducted by Belarusian and Iranian research centers. Mikhail Myasnikovich noted that Belarus is eager to implement joint projects with Iranian research centers in space exploration, nano- and biotechnology, pharmaceutical industry and other areas. The parties considered opportunities for preparing a plan for cooperation between the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus and the Iran National Science Foundation.

The Belarusian MPs also paid a visit to the Azhitechs, a company that became an official dealer for Minsk Automobile Plant (MAZ trademark) in Iran in 2009, on 8 February. The company commissioned a plant to assemble MAZ vehicles in 2011. More than 500 vehicles have been delivered to Iran over the years of cooperation. Mikhail Myasnikovich met with Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, Iranian Minister of Industries, Mines and Trade, on 7 February. The minister said that Iran would like to continue purchasing MAZ vehicles. The Belarusian delegation attended a ceremony to open a bus assembly unit and were given a tour of the enterprise.

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Belarus invites Iran to cooperate in pharmaceutical industry, space exploration - Belarus News (BelTA)

Ratan Naval Tata, chairman emeritus of TATA Group, flagged off TeamIndus and Agastya International Foundation's Moonshot Wheels at Jakkur, Bengaluru, Karnataka, February 7, 2017.Rohit KVN/ IBTimes India

Indigenous aerospace company TeamIndus in collaboration with Agastya International Foundation, kicked off an inspirational campaign #HarIndianKaMoonshot to educate rural students of its Moon landing program and also inspire space exploration in Bengaluru on February 7.

The company, using the bus aptly titled Moonshot Wheels comes equipped with advanced tools and will traverse 11 Indian states covering 12500 kms in 12 months. It plans to interact with more than 36000 students in government schools. The bus is said to carry out 16 curate science experiments including live satellite tracking, Moon rover, Spacecraft scaled model and also showcase an experience zone, which will simulate space activities in small enclosure and inspire kids.

Also read:ISRO set to launch Saarc satellite in March 2017

"Moonshot Wheels is an important manifestation of our commitment to making this Mission, #HarIndianKaMoonshot," Rahul Narayan, Fleet Commander of TeamIndus, said in a statement. "Our foundation will continue initiatives like this and Lab2Moon to ignite passion for STEM in the next generation," Narayan added.

Further, select school students, who show aptitude and keenness in the space programs and related topics, will stand a chance to write a message, wherein it will be engraved on the very space equipments, which will be placed on the Moon. TeamIndus, as part of Google Lunar X Prize, is working on a project to build spacecraft consisting Lunar lander HHK-1 and a rover titled-- ECA (hindi phraseEk Choti si Asha, meaning ' a small dream') to deploy on the Moon, which will carry out a curated list of experiments on the lunar surface.

Dr. Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan, former ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) Chairman with TeamIndus and Agastya International Foundation team at Moonshot Wheels launch at Jakkur, Bengaluru, Karnatka, February 7, 2017Rohit KVN/ IBTimes India

"Agastya International Foundation is delighted to partner with TeamIndus Foundation on this exciting and unique space education program! What makes this program special is that it targets children and school teachers from under-served communities, closely aligning with Agastya's vision", Ramji Raghavan, Founder and Chairman of Agastya International Foundation, said in a statement.

If all things go as planned, TeamIndus with the help ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation)'s PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle), intends to launch it space probe in the last week of December 2017 and make a soft landing on January 26, 2018. If they succeed to operate and perform predefined tests for 14 days, they will be claim Google Lunar X Prize worth $30 million.

In doing so, TeamIndus will set a new precedent in India's space exploration history. before TeamIndus, govt-run ISRO was the sole player in the country's space exploration. TeamIndus' success will definitely encourage other private companies to jump to this field and also pullyoung adults towards the pure science.

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TeamIndus launches Moonshot Wheels to inspire Indian rural students about Space Exploration - International Business Times, India Edition

NASA has released a new image of Enceladus, the sixth-largest of Saturns moons, taken by the agencys Cassini orbiter.

NASAs Cassini robotic orbiter obtained this image of Saturns moon Enceladus on November 27, 2016. This view looks toward the Saturn-facing hemisphere of the moon. North on Enceladus is up and rotated 6 degrees to the right. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

Enceladus has a diameter of only 314 miles (505 km), about a tenth of that of Titan.

Discovered on August 28, 1789 by the English astronomer William Herschel, it orbits at 112,000 miles (180,000 km) from Saturns cloud tops, between the orbits of Mimas and Tethys.

Enceladus displays at least five different types of terrain: parts of the moon show craters no larger than 22 miles (35 km) in diameter; other areas show regions with no craters, indicating resurfacing events in the geologically recent past.

There are fissures, plains, corrugated terrain and other crustal deformations.

Because Enceladus reflects almost 100% of the sunlight that strikes it, the surface temperature is extremely cold, about minus 330 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 201 degrees Celsius).

Over the course of the Cassini mission, observations have shown that Enceladus not only has watery jets sending icy grains into space; it also has a global subsurface ocean, and may have hydrothermal activity as well.

Since planetary researchers believe liquid water is a key ingredient for life, the implications for future missions searching for life elsewhere in the Solar System could be significant.

The image was taken in green light with Cassinis narrow-angle camera on November 27, 2016.

The view was acquired at a distance of roughly 81,000 miles (130,000 km) from Enceladus.

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Cassini Captures Stunning View of Enceladus | Space Exploration ... - Sci-News.com

Space. It wont be an exaggeration to say that almost everything in the vast cosmic void that envelopes Earth will kill us in the blink of an eye. This wont be much of a problem if we were a firmly Earth-bound species, but, as Carl Sagan once presciently remarked:We have a basic responsibility to our species to venture to other worlds.

Previous studies have already shown that long-term exposure to the microgravity environment of space impairs astronauts vision, atrophies their muscles, and even causes changes in gene expression and chromosome length.

Now, a new NASA-funded study published in the latest edition of the journal Nature Microgravity has detailed the impact spaceflight has on the shape of astronauts brains. The researchers, whoexamined structural MRIs in 12 astronauts who spent two weeks as shuttle crew members and 14 who spent six months on the International Space Station, found noticeable changes in gray matter in different parts of the brain.

Blue shows areas of gray matter volume decrease, likely reflecting shifting of cerebrospinal fluid. Orange shows regions of gray matter volume increase, in the regions that control movement of the legs. Photo: University of Michigan

Specifically, MRIs taken before and after spaceflight revealed that the volume of gray matter both increased and decreased, and the extent of the changes depended on the length of time spent in space.

We found large regions of gray matter volume decreases, which could be related to redistribution of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in space, lead author Rachael Seidler from the University of Michigan said in a statement released Tuesday. Gravity is not available to pull fluids down in the body, resulting in so-called puffy face in space. This may result in a shift of brain position or compression.

Gray matter, which consists of neuronal cell bodies and unmyelinated axons, is responsible for controlling a variety of functions, including sensory perception, memory formation, decision-making and emotions.

The researchers found that gray matter volume increased in the areas of the brain that control leg movement, which may reflect changes related to the brain learning how to move in microgravity, while in other areas of the brain, gray matter volume decreased due to redistribution of the CSF.

It is important to note that the changes in gray matter volume do not stem from a loss or gain in brain cells. Moreover, it is still not clear what repercussions these changes have on cognition and physical performance in the long term, and whether, once the astronauts are back on Earth, the brain can still use different pathways to compensate for the structural changes caused by spaceflight.

These intriguing findings are observed in a retrospective data set. More carefully controlled prospective studies may shed further light on these changes and their relation to behavioral performance, the researchers concluded in the study.

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Space Exploration: Astronauts' Brains Are Changed By Spaceflight, MRI-Based Study Reveals - International Business Times

LOS ANGELES: From collaborating with engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for designing a next-generation space exploration device to cut the distance barrier between cities, the global 3D design company Dassault Systemes is busy working on ideas to herald a new era for millennials.

According to Gian Paolo Bassi, CEO, SOLIDWORKS, Dassault Systemes, new space exploration devices will further expand our knowledge about the universe.

"We are working closely with JPL engineers to build a space exploration device that will be faster than any other machine of its kind of previous generation and will be able to carry heavier payloads," Bassi addressed the jam-packed Los Angeles Convention Centre as he kicked-off the four-day SOLIDWORKS World 2017 conference here on Monday.

"In order to safeguard our Earth from an asteroid impact in the future, we are also working with NASA to develop a planetary space defence system that can alert us in such threat in advance," Bassi told the gathering in the city of entertainment which was inundated with rain since morning.

Dassault Systemes is also working with the California-based aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company SpaceX on an ambitious hyperloop transportation project.

Proposed by SpaceX founder Elon Musk in 2013, the Hyperloop system envisages mass transportation at a speed of up to 760 miles (nearly 1300 km) per hour via low-pressure tubes.

"It means that once in use, the hyperloop pod ride will take you to San Francisco from Los Angeles in flat 35 minutes. We are working with engineers to design the low-flying vehicle," Bassi noted.

Last week, the Hyperloop competition pitted 27 research teams against each other for the chance to test-drive their model pods in a test tube built by SpaceX in California.

Following the competition, SpaceX released a video which takes viewers on a trip through the 1.25km tube, showing what a ride in a Hyperloop pod might be like.

Students from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Munich Technical University and Delft University of Technology finally received the chance to send their pods for a test drive to see whose model was most impressive.

"Innovation is about experiences that we are creating for our customers and space research is one of those," Bassi said.

Not just space research, the 3D design solutions are also helping baby toy manufacturers build innovative toys, guitar makers develop new-age electric guitars and magicians create mind-blowing illusions to leave their audience speechless.

Being attended by over 5,000 engineers and designers from around the globe, the four-day event is organised by Dassault SystAmes, the 3DEXPERIENCE Company and a world leader in 3D design software.

Over 120 exhibitors are displaying new technologies and products amid 200 interactive training sessions at the annual SOLIDWORKS World 2017.

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Dassault Systemes sets eyes on space exploration, faster transport - Economic Times

Late last year, The Wall Street Journal reported that Rep. Jim Bridenstine, R-Okla. (A, 97%) was seen as the top choice for NASA chief. The announcement has not yet happened, but if Bridenstine is appointed and confirmed, that would mean another member of the House Freedom Caucus joins the Trump administration along with OMB nominee Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C. (A, 94%).

Nominating another solid conservative to be in the Trump administration would also show a commitment to an efficient and effective space program moving forward. NASA has had problems over the past few years with mission creep from space exploration to studying global warming. Hopefully, the Trump administration can get NASA back on track to focus on space exploration.

Maybe this is a new era for NASA. President Donald Trump mentioned space in his inaugural address, and conservatives hope that the future of space exploration is one that stresses fiscal sanity and stays away from mission creep that takes funding away from NASAs core function.

A conservative approach to NASA and space exploration should contain three elements in the Trump administration.

Space News reported on January 3, 2017:

Bridenstine, an Oklahoma Republican active on space issues in the House, has reportedly talked with Vice President-elect Mike Pence about the position, although no final decision has been made by the transition team. Bridenstines name has been under discussion for the position since immediately after the election, along with several other individuals.

Bridenstine is qualified for the position. His biography references his Naval aviation career flying the E-2C Hawkeye off the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier. Bridenstine flew combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan and gathered most of his 1,900 flight hours and 333 carrier-arrested landings. While on active duty, he transitioned to the F-18 Hornet and flew at the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center, the parent command to TOPGUN. This is a member who has practical experience flying.

After he left active duty, Bridenstine returned to Tulsa to be the Executive Director of the Tulsa Air and Space Museum & Planetarium. Bridenstine recently transitioned to the 137th Air Refueling Wing of the Oklahoma Air National Guard, where he will fly with an MC-12 squadron stationed at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City. His bio also mentions that he is on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee.

Pretty amazing for a member of Congress to both have practical and political experience for the job of NASA administrator.

In addition to his qualifications, Bridenstine is a solid conservative member who has a high score on the Conservative Review Liberty Score. Bridenstine ran a Tea Party-style candidacy in the first district of Oklahoma against an incumbent establishment Republican in 2012 and won. Bridenstines first vote in Congress was against John Boehner for Speaker of the House, and he has been a constant thorn in the side of the establishment wing of the Republican Party. More points to Bridenstine for being a conservative leader in the House.

Putting a solid conservative who wants to drain the Washington swamp is a great first step to getting NASA back on track.

NASA was created to conduct space missions, not to study the impact of global warming on the planet. I cant think of a mission more removed from space exploration than the study of Earths climate change, yet President Obama increased funding for NASAs Earth Science budget from $1.38 to $1.77 billion.

NASA should focus less on the study of Earths temperatures and use those resources to conduct missions to other planets. NASA funding for climate change research should, at a minimum, be dramatically reduced.

Prominent conservatives who support NASA agree. The Atlantic reported on May 7, 2015, that two members expressed support for shifting resources at NASA from global warming studies to space exploration:

House Science Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, a Texas Republican, last week moved a two-year NASA bill through his committee that would shift money away from the Earth Science program to spend on planetary exploration. "There are 13 other agencies involved in climate-change research, but only one that is responsible for space exploration," Smith said at a recent hearing.

Sen. Ted Cruz, another Texan, who oversees the Commerce subcommittee in charge of NASA, has likewise said it's time for NASA to refocus on space exploration. At ahearing earlier this year, Cruz said that the "core function of NASA is to explore space" and "NASA in the current environment has lost its full focus on that core mission."

Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas (F, 58%) and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas (A, 97%) are correct, and Bridenstine would seem to be the perfect nominee to right the NASA ship.

Other nations are competing with the American space industry, and it is important that the U.S. keep a close eye on China when formulating space policy. NASA is not focused on using space exploration as a national security tool, yet NASA resources should be used for those purposes by the defense and intelligence apparatuses of the U.S. government.

NASA should be careful when allowing foreign interests to launch in the U.S. and should especially be wary of China. Dean Cheng of The Heritage Foundation worries that the communist Chinese are battling the U.S. for military domination of space. Although not a mission of NASA, it is impossible to have a space program that does not coordinate with the defense and intelligence arms of the federal government to ensure that the Trump administration keeps America safe from threats coming from space.

China is intent on dominating space. Chengs testified before the House Subcommittee on Space and published in a Heritage Foundation paper titled U.S. China Competition in Space on September 27, 2016:

All of these developments reflect the reality that the U.S. and China are engaged in a competition regarding the ability to access and exploit space in support of national security objectives. For the Chinese, it seems clear that they hope to limit our ability to employ space systems, while ideally preserving their own capacity. This is an asymmetric situation, however, because the United States is far more reliant on space to conduct military operations than the PRC. Most American conflicts, after all, occur at a significant distance from our own shores and the Western Hemisphere. Communications, intelligence gathering, even weather prediction all rely more on space assets.

Any NASA missions to Mars or other space exploration will be answered by missions from China and other superpowers. Expect that NASA will again become a symbol of American exceptionalism, like it was during the Kennedy administration that pitted the U.S. against the U.S.S.R. in the race to put a man on the moon.

Putting a solid conservative in as administrator of NASA, retooling the mission, and making America first a core policy of the agency will all go a long way to restoring the vision of NASA that has kept that program in the hearts and minds of Americans who fondly remember the space race and the space shuttle missions from the Reagan years.

Brian Darling is a former staffer for Sen. Rand Paul. Follow him on Twitter @BrianHDarling.

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Obama gutted NASA. Here are 3 ways Trump can make space ... - Conservative Review

The thrill of space exploration takes an unexpected turn towards terrifying in this brand-new trailer from "Life," a science fiction thriller that will launch into movie theaters on March 24.

In this Space.com exclusive look, we get a 2-minute, 32-second look at what just might happen if we actually do discover alien life on Mars. It's a short trailer, but there's a lot to unpack (including some tense still images), so let's take a look:

The year is 2017 (hey, that's now!) and a crew of astronauts on the International Space Station are about to make history by retrieving the first sample-preturn probe from Mars. At first, everything seems great. We see an international crew of astronauts - quick look reveals Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom and Russia represented - celebrating the birth of a baby back on Earth (congratulations!).

Jake Gyllenhaal portrays astronaut David Jordan in "Life," a science fiction thriller that hits theaters March 24, 2017.

"Life" stars a crew of photogenic astronauts, among them Dr. David Jordan (Jake Gyllenhaal), who lays out the mission to capture the "research pod" from Mars. "This is the first capsule ever to come back from the planet," Gyllenhaal's Jordan says as scenes of the Martian surface - including actual views from NASA rovers - flash on the screen. Actors Rebecca Ferguson, Ryan Reynolds, Hiroyuki Sanada, Ariyon Bakare and Olga Dichovichnaya also star in the film. [These Scary Space Movies Will Freak You Out]

We see glimpses of what life in space is like for the astronauts (fixing a shower, running on treadmills) before the capsule's capture. Reynolds even gets a line "Star Trek" fans (a group that includes me) will love: "I'm an astronaut, not a gym teacher."

Ryan Reynolds is astronaut Rory Adams in the science fiction thriller "Life."

But as you'd expect, things quickly go from worse to catastrophic as the astronauts discover life in the Mars capsule that appears to grow fast and terrifying at cosmic speed. We learn that what ever it is from Mars may have destroyed all life on the Red Planet, and it's up to the space station crew to prevent the critter from reaching Earth.

Not since 2013's "Gravity" have we seen the International Space Station as shattered as we do in the new "Life" trailer, which closes with flashes of space action timed to lines from "Goodnight, Moon," a bedtime story book by Margaret Wise Brown that I read to my own daughter and will never think of the same way again.

"Life" isn't the first space movie of 2017 or even the first Mars-life themed one (the teen romance "The Space Between Us" which opened this weekend claims that title). But the upcoming film promises to be one heck of a sci-fi ride based on the new trailer, as well asthe first view we got back in November. It doesn't hurt that both trailers showcase some truly awesome and realistic-looking spacecraft and spacesuits, which we at Space.com always appreciate.

"Life" is not yet rated and will hit theaters on March 24, 2017.

Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him@tariqjmalikandGoogle+.Follow us@Spacedotcom,FacebookandGoogle+. Original article onSpace.com.

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New 'Life' Trailer Brings Terrifying Thrills from Mars (Exclusive) - Space.com