This Week in The Space Review -
Tough decisions ahead for planetary exploration
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Last month the planetary science community rolled out a study identifying its priorities for missions in the next decade. Jeff Foust reports on how the difficult choices included in that report are further complicated by NASA's latest budget proposal.
In praise of Mercury
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Last month NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft slipped into orbit around Mercury, becoming the first spacecraft to orbit the innermost planet. Lou Friedman describes his "personal, not scientific" connection to that rocky world.
The Big Bird and the turkey
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While all the KH-9 reconnaissance satellites were launched on Titan rockets, would it have been possible to launch one on a space shuttle? Dwayne Day examines that question as the KH-9 program approaches declassification and the shuttle its own retirement.
Space law and the new era of commercial spaceflight
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As commercial spaceflight, including both suborbital and orbital human flights, become more common, these applications will raise new legal issues. Christopher J. Newman and Ben Middleton discuss some of the issues that space law experts will have to grapple with in the near future.
Review: First Contact
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The field of astrobiology has increasingly entered the mainstream of scientific research as scientists make new discoveries on Earth and beyond. Jeff Foust reviews a book that provides an overview of the field and assesses the prospects for life elsewhere in the universe.
If you missed it, here's what we published in our previous issue:
"We've got to move on"
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As the 2011 fiscal year reaches the halfway mark this week, NASA still lacks a final budget for the fiscal year as well as a firm plan for its future human spaceflight plans. Jeff Foust reports on how the continued debate and lack of action has some in industry increasingly concerned.
The flight of the Big Bird (part 4)
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Dwayne Day concludes his history of the KH-9 HEXAGON reconnaissance satellite program with a look at its ill-fated final flight and its overall contribution to the nation's security.
Picking sides in cislunar space
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Many space exploration architectures have identified the two Lagrange points near the moon, L1 and L2, as promising stepping stones for future human missions, but which one is better? Dan Lester examines the tradeoffs of going to one point versus the other, and the benefits of either.
India's ABM test: a validated ASAT capability or a paper tiger?
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Earlier this month India tested an ABM that officials claimed could also provide the country with an anti-satellite capability. Michael Listner explores how serious India may be in developing its own ASAT.
Review: Spacesuit
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While essential to human spaceflight, the spacesuit hasn't gotten the attention that people, rockets, and spacecraft have received over the decades. Jeff Foust reviews a new book that puts the development of the spacesuit, in particular the one used for the Apollo missions, into a technical and cultural perspective.
Until next week,
Provided by The Space Review
