Fwd: This Week in The Space Review - 2014 April 28

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From: jeff@thespacereview.com (Jeff Foust)
Date: April 28, 2014 1:27:59 PM CDT
Subject: This Week in The Space Review - 2014 April 28
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Welcome to this week's issue of The Space Review:


SpaceX escalates the EELV debate
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For months, SpaceX has sparring with the Air Force and United Launch Alliance about a block buy contract that appeared to keep SpaceX from competing for many upcoming military launches. Jeff Foust reports that SpaceX has intensified that debate with plans to contest that contract in court.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2502/1

...Try, try again
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After an earlier effort to develop Venus and Mars probes in the early 1960s resulted in launch and spacecraft failures, the Soviet Union redoubled its efforts with a new set of missions. Andrew LePage explores the development of that next generation of Venus and Mars spacecraft 50 years ago.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2501/1

Customary international law: A troublesome question for the Code of Conduct?
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Various nations, including the United States, are discussing a proposed code of conduct for outer space activities. Michael Listner examines whether the code, intended to be a non-binding document, could establish a form of international law depending on how the US or others implement it.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2500/1

Microbes, spacecraft, and cheerleaders: The ISS payload story of Project MERCCURI
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Among the payloads delivered to the International Space Station this month on a Dragon cargo spacecraft is a microbiology experiment with an unusual public outreach angle. Bart Leahy describes the development of Project MERCCURI and the challenges it overcame to make it to space.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2499/1

Reviews: new spins on astronaut biographies
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Many books have been written about the lives of astronauts, including by the astronauts themselves; is there anything new that can be said? Jeff Foust reviews two, relatively short books that profile astronauts who have already written their life stories, but do so in new ways.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2498/1


If you missed it, here's what we published in our previous issue:


The uncertain road to Mars
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There's growing acceptance that NASA's space exploration program should have the long-term goal of landing humans on Mars, perhaps in the mid-2030s. However, Jeff Foust reports there's less information on exactly how NASA should go about achieving that goal, and whether any NASA strategy is affordable in the long run.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2497/1

Humans and robots to the Moon and Mars: a unified and integrated space program strategy
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Too often debates about space exploration have focused on destinations, or whether robots or humans should be in the lead. John Strickland offers an integrated approach that maximizes the capabilities of both humans and robots to explore destinations throughout the solar system.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2496/1

The growth of public-private partnerships in commercial space ventures
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While the capabilities of commercial space ventures continue to grow, those efforts are increasingly being done in cooperation with governments. Anthony Young examines the rise of these public-private partnerships through several recent examples.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2495/1

Everest, the camps, and the Sherpas
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NASA first reached the Moon thanks to tremendous resources at its disposal during the Apollo era. Derek Webber argues that for NASA to explore in more fiscally constrained times, it must borrow a page from mountaineering and establish an infrastructure of "base camps" leading into the solar system.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2494/1

Review: Lucky Planet
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The discovery of the first Earth-sized exoplanet in its star's habitable zone has raised hopes that true Earth-like worlds may be common. Jeff Foust reviews a book where one scientist argues that Earth, in fact, may be a exceptionally rare planet.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2493/1


We appreciate any feedback you may have about these articles as well as
any other questions, comments, or suggestions about The Space Review.
We're also actively soliciting articles to publish in future issues, so
if you have an article or article idea that you think would be of
interest, please email me.

Until next week,

Jeff Foust
Editor, The Space Review
jeff@thespacereview.com
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